The Will to Live
by V. Shalyr
Summary: Three hundred years before Fairy Tail, Zeref meets a young dragon on a quest to break a curse. With dark wizards, knights, and evil dragons still fighting over the land and the right to live, it is the start of a crazy journey that will have repercussions even three hundred years into the future. Eventual NatsuxZeref, alternative history
1. An Unusual Encounter

**Disclaimer** : I do not own Fairy Tail.

 **Pairing(s)** : eventually Natsu Dragneal x Zeref

 **WARNINGS: violence, alternative history,** **shounan ai (boy/boy pairing); you have been warned so don't like, don't read**

* * *

 **The Will to Live**

 **By V. Shalyr**

* * *

 **Part I: A Different Past**

* * *

 **1\. An Unusual Encounter**

When the knights arrived in the village to kill him, Zeref was half tempted to stay and let them try on the slim chance that they would actually succeed. Barely more than a hundred years after being cursed with immortality and he was already tired, and compared to the rest of eternity, a hundred years was but a drop of water in the ocean.

In the end, however, he didn't linger in the village because the farmer and his family who had given him shelter for the night had been good to him. Any sort of confrontation would only cause them trouble. Instead, Zeref thanked his hosts and left before the heavily armed men and women marched past the village boundaries. He really shouldn't have stayed with the farmer's family at all, but he'd been alone for so long that he felt as though his mind was slipping away from him. It had been a selfish decision, and it was possible that his time under their roof, however brief, would cause them trouble in the future.

He walked a ways into the woods before letting himself think about all this, and he watched the trees die around him. The sight always left him feeling cold and empty, but in this particular instance, it would serve to decrease the potential damage he might have caused. The knights would sense his magic and know that he was no longer in the village. Hopefully, they would attempt to pursue him right away and refrain from interrogating the villagers.

Zeref would wait for them farther away in the woods—see what new spells they might have come up with to try and destroy him.

When he continued on his way, it was amidst a shower of withered leaves and the silence of a forest whose creatures knew that something deadly had just come a little too close.

That made the second such danger to pass by today.

The deer lay on its side upon the riverbank, its glassy eyes staring sightlessly at the rushing water that it hadn't quite managed to cross before its neck had been broken by a well-aimed kick. It was a decently sized animal, and Natsu decided with some satisfaction that it would make for good eating. One of the benefits of being human was that a man didn't need to eat as much as a dragon did.

One of the drawbacks, he thought as he took out a knife and began skinning and gutting the carcass, was the lack of efficient claws. Hands had their advantages, of course, but nothing beat a good set of claws for disemboweling prey. Oh well, the knives and daggers he'd taken from those stupid humans would serve for now. Pity none of them had had any swords.

Natsu had just made the first cut in the deer's soft hide when he heard shouts in the distance. He couldn't make out the words, but the tension and fear in them were obvious. Hell, Natsu could smell the fear even from this distance.

He eyed the deer carcass wistfully then sighed. None of the creatures around here would dare to steal his lunch, and if any of them did, they'd be next on his menu. He might as well go see what all the ruckus was about.

The source of the commotion lay in a large clearing some distance away from the river. More than a dozen heavily armed men and women had surrounded a slender boy with disheveled black hair and skin so pale it looked almost unnatural. Despite the fact that the boy was unarmed and wore no armor, the smell of fear in the air was not coming from him but the adults around him.

The knights all held unsheathed swords, and four of them had placed themselves at the four cardinal points of the clearing. These particular knights carried gemstones set in the hilts of their blades, all of which blazed with power. Four shimmering walls of light ran from gem bearer to gem bearer, caging the boy within a four-sided prison. There was so much magic in the air that Natsu could smell that too, an almost acrid tang that told him the spell at work was a dangerous one—one meant to hurt.

"Hey! What do you lot think you're doing?"

The knights jerked in surprise at the interruption, and Natsu seized the opportunity to charge the man standing at the prison's eastern corner, calling up flames as he went. Natsu hit the guard at a dead run, delivered a punch to the man's gut that doubled him over and then wrenched the sword from his grasp. To his credit, the knight struggled valiantly to hold on to his weapon regardless of the pain and only let go when the metal burned white hot, fire searing through the leather of his gloves and scorching the skin beneath. As soon as he had a hold of the sword, Natsu broke it in half over his knee and dropped the two halves of the blade to the ground.

The prison of light vanished, and there was instant pandemonium. The knights didn't seem to know whether to keep their weapons aimed at the boy or to turn and face this new threat. Natsu cracked his knuckles and glared at the lot of them.

"It's really pathetic, you know, the whole bunch of you ganging up on someone like this."

"This is none of your business," one of the other gem bearers snapped. His white and silver garments were somewhat fancier than the others, and Natsu assumed that meant he was the captain.

"Maybe not," Natsu agreed, "but it would be pretty rotten of me to just sit back and watch. He's not even fighting back, and you're trying to kill him."

This seemed to give the knights pause. What, had they been so frightened that they hadn't even realized that their victim wasn't trying to escape?

"This boy is an abomination," the captain said at last.

Natsu didn't like his tone one bit. It was the tone people used when fear and hate and prejudice had all become mixed together into something ugly.

"Yeah?" Gold and white flames flared about Natsu's fists, and the air around him began to distort from the heat. "Well, I think what you lot are doing is pretty abominable too."

The knights took several steps back, alarmed. Even for wizard fire, these flames were unnaturally intense. They glowered at this unwanted intruder, but nothing would change the fact that their fourth artifact now lay in pieces in the dirt.

"We'll remember you," the knight captain said, returning Natsu's glare with one of his own. Then he signaled his team to retreat.

Natsu didn't let the flames fade until the sound of their heavy boots were well out of earshot. Then he turned to inspect the remaining occupant of the clearing.

The boy did not appear to be relieved. He didn't appear to be all that happy either. If anything, the expression on his face was faintly puzzled.

When he spoke, it was to say, "You shouldn't have stopped them."

Natsu frowned. That was not the reaction he had expected.

"What's that supposed to mean? You should be thanking me. You do realize they were trying to kill you, right?"

The boy nodded. "I was waiting to see if it would work."

This was such an incredibly ludicrous response that it took Natsu several long seconds to process it. When the words finally registered properly, his frown darkened into a scowl.

"Are you even listening to yourself?" He grabbed the boy by the collar of his black robes and shook him hard. "They were going to kill you, and you were just going to stand there and see if you died? How crazy do you have to be to do something like that?"

"I'm not crazy," the boy said, unperturbed by the rough treatment.

He wasn't even tense, Natsu realized, which was just abnormal for someone being shaken by the neck by a complete stranger. Looking into the boy's large, dark eyes, Natsu had to admit that he didn't look like someone who had lost his mind. The boy looked young, but he had the eyes of someone very old.

Natsu had never seen eyes so full of sadness before, and the sight made him hesitate. If the boy wasn't crazy...

He gave his head a frustrated shake. This whole incident had just been bizarre. He was irritated—and hungry to boot. He refused to stand around in this clearing and argue.

"Come on," he said, letting go of the boy's collar and turning him around so he could push him ahead of him back towards the river. "I was about to have lunch. You can explain to me what just happened here while I eat."

Zeref was... confused. Yes, confused was a very suitable word for it. He couldn't even remember how many times various groups of wizards and non-wizards had attempted to take his life. Not once had anyone tried to help him.

The strange young man directed him to a spot on the riverbank and waited for him to sit down before turning his attention to the carcass of a deer nearby. While Zeref watched, he set about preparing the deer to be cooked—which he then proceeded to do with Fire Magic.

Whoever this person was, Zeref could say for certain that he was no ordinary wizard.

"So?" the stranger prompted, biting into the venison despite the fact that it was still steaming. "Aren't you a bit young to be wandering around out here in the wilderness by yourself?"

"I'm more than a hundred," Zeref said, not seeing any point in lying. "I think that's old enough."

The stranger raised his eyebrows. "You are, huh?"

There was something odd about his eyes, Zeref thought. The eyes that surveyed Zeref from beneath wild, spiky hair were sharp and narrow, the pupils so thin they looked almost slitted. Come to think of it, Zeref thought he'd seen those eyes change during the fight earlier. And were those fangs? Zeref felt like he'd seen people like this before somewhere, but it took him a moment to connect the dots.

"Are you... a Dragon Slayer?"

The young man considered the question.

"Well, you're half right."

"Half right?" Zeref repeated, bewildered. How could he be half right about this?

"For all intents and purposes, I'm currently basically the same as a Dragon Slayer. But I'm actually a dragon, so if you want to get really technical..."

He trailed off, shrugged, and tore into another piece of deer meat.

"But how is that possible?"

"Asks the young-looking human who says he's more than a hundred years old."

He had a point.

"I'm cursed," Zeref said, seeing no reason to keep this a secret.

"Yeah?" Natsu grinned. "What a coincidence. So am I."

This conversation was starting to get very strange. Zeref wondered if he was the only one who thought so.

"But dragons are notoriously resistant to magic."

"Yeah. Surprised me too." The young man gestured with the venison in his hand. "You can eat some of this too if you want. There's plenty for two."

"Thank you, but I'm... not hungry."

"Suit yourself."

The stranger took a few more bites of his food before going on to explain.

"A group of wizards was trying to kill me. Ran into them when I was practicing turning into a human, and they thought trapping me as a human would make it easier. Don't know how they managed to make it work. They must have had some crazy magic amplification technology in order to actually cast a spell on me that lasts this long. My magic generally burns away other magic in no time." He smirked. "Whatever the case, they were wrong. Wonder what they thought the whole point of training Dragon Slayers was. They're lucky I decided to be merciful. Those dumb bastards couldn't tell the difference between a good dragon and a bad one."

"I assume that means you consider yourself one of the good ones."

"Well, yeah. They're still alive, right? At least I think they are. I was a bit angry, so I didn't really check. But if I'd been one of the bad ones, I'd have finished them off even though they were just stupid and not evil. Hell, I could have just eaten them at the start and saved myself the trouble. They would have made a decent meal."

"I see."

Zeref glanced back at the deer's remains. This young man certainly had a Dragon Slayer's appetite. The dark-haired wizard had never seen food disappear so fast.

"Well? What happened earlier? Why were those knights after you?"

"It's because of my curse."

"That's not really an explanation."

No, Zeref supposed that it wasn't. Still, he'd never had to explain this to anyone before. Nobody had ever hung around to ask.

"It's my magic," he said finally. "I have a magic that takes the lives of everything around me—people, trees, other animals—anything that comes too close to me."

The corners of Zeref's mouth tugged downward, and he looked down at his hands resting in his lap. "This magic, I can't control it. I can't blame them for being afraid."

Natsu was relatively young for a dragon, but he still had more than a century's worth of experiences. Despite that, he had to admit that it was startling to see the grass close to the wizard simply wither away. So that was what had happened to those odd patches of dead vegetation he'd seen while traversing these woods.

Now he could understand why those knights had been so afraid.

Still, the boy just looked so _miserable_. Even though all this death wasn't intentional, he obviously felt an immense amount of guilt because of it. Natsu wondered how much pain the wizard had to be in to face his own death with such indifference.

Huh, he and this strange wizard might actually be about the same age.

Natsu polished off the last scraps of deer meat and stood up.

"Tell you what, I'm actually searching for this wizard that I've heard is the absolute authority on breaking curses. Why don't you come with me? Maybe she'll be able to help both of us."

The boy's brow furrowed.

"I've never heard of such a wizard."

"That's because she's a bit of a recluse and mostly keeps to herself. My dad told me about her, but unfortunately, he only had a general idea of where she might be right now. She's not big on talking with dragons."

If Natsu hadn't been watching him so closely, he might have missed the flicker of emotion that passed through the boy's dark eyes. That sure looked a lot like hope to Natsu, and he felt rather pleased by the sight of it.

Still, the wizard hesitated. "Are you sure that would be all right? It's not safe to travel with me."

"If you're talking about those knights, I can handle them no problem."

The boy shook his head. "I know that. I was talking about my magic."

"Oh, that." This time, Natsu grinned. "I wouldn't worry about that. We dragons are very resistant to magic. You said so yourself, and Fire Dragons like me are especially so. I might not have met anyone like you before, but I've heard of curses like yours. I'm quite sure that I'll be fine."

And the boy would just have to trust him on that because that had definitely been hope in those eyes and Natsu wasn't going to just let him go back to wallowing in despair. Traveling was more fun with a companion anyway, and Natsu hadn't met anyone this interesting in awhile.

"Right then." Natsu picked up the bloody deer hide and set about scraping the insides clean of residual fat and flesh. "We'll just take this with us and sell it to a tanner in the next town. I haven't really needed money, but you never know. And human restaurants can make some awesome dishes."

"For a dragon, you seem to know a lot about humans."

"Yeah." Natsu didn't pause in his work, but a slight frown made it onto his face. "Dad thinks it's important to understand humans. He says that the time of dragons is coming to an end, whatever that means, and that we need to rethink how we live if we want to coexist in peace."

He shook his head and glanced back over at his new traveling companion.

"Anyway, I haven't introduced myself yet. My name's Natsu. What about you?"

The boy took a long moment to answer, and when he did, it was in the uncertain voice of someone who still couldn't quite wrap his mind around what was happening.

"Zeref. My name is Zeref."

Around them, the woods were silent. Most of the wildlife had fled, and those that hadn't were tucked safely away, hidden in their respective dens and burrows. Only the trees bore witness to this peculiar chance encounter, and of course, they weren't going to tell a soul.

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 **TBC...**

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 **AN** : The first part of this story is going to be an alternative history for my favorite couple set semi-shortly after the end of the Dragon Civil War and Zeraf's curse. The second part will take place after the start of the original Fairy Tail timeline.

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	2. A Chance for Understanding

**Disclaimer** : I do not own Fairy Tail.

 **Pairing(s)** : eventually Natsu Dragneal x Zeref

 **WARNINGS: violence, alternative history,** **shounan ai (boy/boy pairing); you have been warned so don't like, don't read**

* * *

 **The Will to Live**

 **By V. Shalyr**

* * *

 **2\. A Chance for Understanding**

It was the middle of spring, and the morning dawned bright and cold. Natsu watched his companion sleep from his own spot under a different tree. For the most part, the dragon had been sleeping only when he grew tired. When he didn't have to fight or hunt, he sometimes went days without stopping. It hadn't occurred to him right away that humans might need more rest. He hadn't realized how tired his traveling companion was until he'd caught the boy stifling a yawn, at which point Natsu had demanded to know why Zeref hadn't told him that he needed to sleep. The boy had given him that faintly puzzled look that was quickly becoming familiar and said that it was because Natsu hadn't seemed like he wanted to stop.

Unbelievable.

Even asleep, Zeref looked exhausted. Exhausted and unhappy. Natsu knew that depression could do that to a person. He'd seen plenty of despair while roaming the countryside with his father. It was one of the things Igneal said that Natsu agreed with. There was too much despair in the world they currently lived in, and something had to change if they wanted the world to improve. Natsu just didn't see what that had to do with not living as dragons anymore.

Zeref... When he'd heard the name, Natsu had thought that it sounded familiar, but it had still taken him awhile to remember why that was. There was quite a famous human wizard by that name. Supposedly, he'd been a genius at magic and done a great deal of research into the mechanics of life and death only to disappear shortly after the death of numerous teachers and students at his school. If this Zeref and that one were one and the same, then Natsu now knew what had most likely happened to those people.

There were so many rumors about the wizard—what he had done and what he was like. Natsu wondered how much of it was true and how much was just fear and hate talking. They'd only been traveling together for three days, and Natsu could already be a hundred percent sure that the boy was about as far from the dragon's definition of "evil" as it was possible to be. Other than that though, Zeref was a mystery.

Still, they had plenty of time to get to know one another, and Igneal would probably want to know the details when Natsu saw him again. His father liked to keep tabs on powerful wizards.

Maybe Natsu would learn what it was about humans that his father thought was so remarkable.

Over by the other tree, Zeref stirred. Dark eyes blinked open and glanced anxiously about while his mind caught up with where he was. Finally, his gaze settled on Natsu. He tensed for a second and then relaxed.

"It... wasn't a dream," he said. "We really are looking for someone who might be good at undoing curses?"

Natsu's lips twitched at how uncertain he sounded, like he couldn't quite let himself believe yet that such a thing could really happen.

"Sounds about right to me. You ready to go?"

Zeref looked at him for another long moment and then nodded slowly. "Could you... tell me more about where we are going?"

"Sure. I'll tell you all about it while we walk. There are a couple of people headed this way. I don't think they're looking for us, but I'd like to be gone before they get here."

Less than a hundred years had passed since the Dragon Civil War, which had devastated the landscape and left much of Fiore in ruins. People were finally beginning to rebuild their towns and villages, and picking up the pieces of their lives that the intense conflict had shattered. Unfortunately, there was still a long way to go before this kingdom was a remotely peaceful place to live. In the mean time, banditry abounded, and rogue wizards could be found everywhere, using their magic in selfish ways in order to gain some sort of standing in this relatively lawless land. People called it a kingdom because it had a king, but the king didn't do very much of anything and it was up to all the local governments and town leaders to strive for order.

According to Natsu, the wizard they were looking for had last been spotted by a place called Eden Lake. To get there, they would first have to cross the countryside and then follow the Glass River upstream to its source in the north.

"Why didn't your father just fly you there?" Zeref asked curiously, calculating the rather vast distance in his mind.

Natsu only shrugged. "He says I got myself into this trouble, so I have to get myself out of it. After all, I'm not a hatchling anymore."

Zeref nodded. That made sense. From what he knew of dragons, they were highly independent and mostly solitary once they were old enough to hunt for themselves. Exceptions were made for a dragon's mate or children, but well... Dragons were such large creatures and required huge amounts of food. That meant vast territories, which they protected fiercely, and a disinclination to share.

"We should probably purchase a map," Zeref said, glancing around them at the people passing on the street. "I'm not familiar with this area, and it would be helpful to know where all the settlements currently are."

So they could avoid them when possible.

They had arrived in this particular town shortly after noon and started with a stop at the local tanner's to sell all the animal skins Natsu had collected on their way through the woods. Natsu wasn't entirely clear on what was considered a fair price, so Zeref had handled the bargaining. They left the tannery with half a pouch of silver coins and two leather travel bags, which they didn't really need but might turn out to be quite useful in the long run. Besides, it was strange for travelers to carry no bags, and in these times, even such little things could make people suspicious. Natsu had the bag he'd taken from the wizards who had tried to kill him, but it was battered and slightly burned, so a replacement was probably a good idea.

"A map, huh?" Natsu considered this. "Sure, why not? As long as you know how to read one."

"You've never used a map before?"

"Nope, never needed one. Dragons don't really draw maps. And anyway, you can see a lot when you're flying."

"I hadn't thought of that," Zeref murmured. "Well, maps are fairly straightforward. I imagine it should make a lot of sense to someone who is used to seeing things from the air. I'll show you how to read one when we have one."

He hesitated then added, "Could you... ask someone where we can find a cartographer?"

"A what?"

"A cartographer. That's the official term for a mapmaker."

Natsu raised his eyebrows. "You sure you don't want to ask yourself? Seeing as you're the one who actually knows what we're looking for?"

The wizard dropped his gaze. "I... don't like to talk to people. I don't want them to remember me."

Natsu's expression softened. Okay, he could understand that. He didn't think it was a healthy way to think, but there were those knights to consider, not to mention all the feuding wizard guilds who would doubtless love to get their hands on someone like Zeref.

"Fine. Wait here."

Natsu stopped a girl pushing an apple cart, bought two apples from her, and spoke with her briefly. When he returned, he handed one apple to Zeref and bit into the other one himself.

"She says they don't have one, but that if we want maps, we should be able to buy them in that curio shop down the street."

"A curio shop?" Zeref repeated, brow furrowed. "I'm not sure how reliable maps from a curio shop would be."

"It's our only option though," Natsu pointed out. "So we might as well go take a look."

The shop in question was a small, cluttered place crammed with wooden shelves. All sorts of maps and drawings paper the walls, and the air was thick with the smell of old parchment and ink.

The stoop-shouldered old man behind the counter peered up at them when they entered, lifting a finger to push his spectacles up his nose.

"Welcome, welcome," he said, beaming. "What can I help you with today?"

""We were hoping to buy a map," Zeref said cautiously.

Thankfully, they were the only customers in the store.

The shopkeeper brightened further. "A treasure map? I have several very fine treasure maps—almost guaranteed to be authentic."

"Um, no, just a regular map—of the region along the Glass River."

"Oh." The man looked disappointed, but he quickly recollected himself. "I should have a regular map around here somewhere. Please wait a moment."

The man rose creakily from his stool and began rummaging around behind the counter. While he searched, he spoke.

"So you're headed to the Glass River, are you? You'll want to be careful if you're going that way."

"Why? Did something happen?" Natsu asked.

"Mostly just the usual," the shopkeeper replied with a sigh. "Bandits and the like. I heard there's a group of bandits in the area that have gotten themselves a wizard or two to help them. Wreaking havoc on the roads and causing no end of trouble for the locals."

He dropped his voice and added, "I also heard that there's been a dragon attack."

Natsu's gaze sharpened. "Really? Where'd it happen?"

"A village along the river supposedly. You might see it if you're headed that way. If you do, I advise you steer clear. You don't want to be a dragon's next meal." The old man straightened abruptly, beaming once more. "Ah, here it is. Take a look. Is this what you were looking for?"

It was. Zeref paid the shopkeeper and they stepped back out into the street. After the hushed quiet within the shop, the town seemed even noisier than before. Zeref hunched his shoulders and tugged the folds of his robes closer about himself. With all these people around, he was starting to feel extremely uncomfortable. The shopkeeper's words didn't help either.

"Can we go now?" he asked quietly.

Natsu stopped eyeing the restaurant across the street and asked, "You don't want lunch? You've hardly eaten anything since we met, and that was three days ago. Whatever that place is selling, it smells really good."

Zeref lowered his head further. "I really need to get out of here. I'm sorry."

He didn't want to be a burden on his traveling companion.

Natsu let out a huff of irritation, although it wasn't because it looked like he wouldn't be able to eat at that restaurant after all.

"If you have to leave, then we'll leave. It's not like you don't have a good reason. Stop apologizing for things you can't help."

"I'm so—"

"What did I just say?"

"...To stop apologizing for things I can't help."

Natsu patted him on the shoulder, ignoring the way Zeref flinched at the touch.

"Good. Now let's get going before I decide I'm willing to risk accidentally killing a few people to get a good lunch."

"You could order a few things and take them with us."

"Good idea. Let's do that."

And they could pick up some cooking equipment too while they were at it, just in case they got tired of eating barbeque.

They left the town almost immediately after that and didn't stop again until the buildings were long out of sight. They left the main road, found a comfortable spot under the boughs of a giant oak tree, and settled down to eat the food Natsu had bought. Or rather, Natsu did most of the eating while Zeref picked at the food, trying only a bite here and there.

"Do you not like it or something?" Natsu asked, frowning at him over a leg of roast chicken. "I can order something else next time if you tell me what you prefer."

Zeref shook his head. "I just don't eat very much. I don't actually have to eat to stay alive, so I suppose I've sort of gotten out of the habit of eating regular meals."

"The habit of eating?" Natsu repeated, incredulous. "Seriously, eating isn't a habit, it's a part of life! Just because it won't kill you doesn't mean you should starve yourself."

"I'm not starving myself. I just—eat enough not to starve. Starving can be... very uncomfortable."

"No kidding," Natsu said dryly. He shook his head. "You can be really strange, you know that? "If we're going to travel together, you're going to have to talk to me more. I'm not a mind reader, and things will be easier if we can at least understand one another."

"What do you want me to say?"

"I don't know. Tell me where you're from. We can trade stories."

Zeref hesitated, glancing from Natsu's face to the grassy field around them.

"The place I'm from doesn't exist anymore. My hometown was destroyed by a dragon more than a century ago. I was the only survivor."

"Oh." Natsu wasn't sure what to say to that. It was... unexpected. "But you don't dislike dragons."

"No, I don't. Like you said before, there are good dragons and bad ones, just like there are good and bad humans. I realize that." Zeref let out a soft sigh and closed his eyes. "I'm sorry, could we talk about something else?"

Natsu could sense the shift in the air that signified the stirring of Zeref's dark magic, and so he refrained from chiding him about the apologies again. Instead, he told Zeref about learning to use his magic for the first time.

"I almost burned a whole forest down," he admitted ruefully. "And Dad and I ended up spending most of the day working to stop the flames from devouring everything. Then we ate the biggest meal I've ever had, because we didn't want to waste the animals that I'd accidentally roasted. My next lesson after that was in how to make a tasty barbeque. Dad said if I was going to make us eat all that burnt meat, I might as well barbeque it well."

Zeref opened his eyes, and Natsu grinned at the glimmer of amusement that he caught in them.

"I suppose it would be inconvenient, not to be able to put out the fires that you set."

"Yeah, you could say that." Natsu shrugged. "It just means we've got to be careful sometimes. What about you? You must have started learning magic at some point. No one's born knowing how to cast spells."

Zeref hesitated, perhaps carefully picking up the memories and checking if they would cause his curse to react. Then he said, "Magic has always made a lot of sense to me. It's hard to remember a time when I didn't know how to cast spells, but I suppose... so much of that time is tied up with things I want to forget."

Natsu nodded. "So you _are_ that Zeref, aren't you? The one there are all those rumors about."

He caught the anxiety on Zeref's face and added, "Don't worry, I never did put much store in rumors. I won't judge you on the basis of some stories no one even knows are true. I can make up my own mind, thanks. Besides, you don't seem like a bad person to me—wait, are you _crying_? Oh no, what did I say? Uh, please don't cry. I hate it when people cry."

Zeref shook his head and wiped away the tears with the loose sleeve of his robes. "I'm sorry. I don't know why I'm crying."

He blinked a few times to clear his eyes then offered Natsu a small smile. It was a rather weak smile as far as smiles went, but it was the first smile Natsu had seen on his face.

"Thank you."

Natsu could have asked him "what for?", but he didn't have to. Maybe Zeref wasn't sure why he was crying, but looking at that smile, Natsu thought he did. Thank you for giving me a chance, that smile said. Thank you for staying.

Natsu had the feeling he was going to remember that smile for a very long time.

They finished the rest of their meal in companionable silence, then Zeref took out the map they had purchased and showed Natsu how it matched up with the actual landscape. For someone accustomed to a bird's eye view of the world, learning to read the map really was quite simple. It looked like there were several possible routes they could take, but only one that wouldn't involve passing through at least one major human settlement. When they continued on their way, it was amidst a much lighter atmosphere.

* * *

 **TBC...**

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 **AN** : Thanks for reading and reviewing.

I apologize beforehand for any typos that I didn't catch. I'm writing this story relatively quickly for me, so I'm not reviewing it as much as I normally do (plus my keyboard's been acting weird). I wasn't originally planning on starting any new stories until I finished Dreaming of Dragons, but I've been in kind of a lousy mood lately and this story was/is partly my way of trying to deal with it (sigh). Just a heads up, since that means some parts of this story may get a bit dark.

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	3. Bandit Attack

**Disclaimer** : I do not own Fairy Tail.

 **Pairing(s)** : eventually Natsu Dragneal x Zeref

 **WARNINGS: violence, alternative history,** **shounan ai (boy/boy pairing); you have been warned so don't like, don't read**

* * *

 **The Will to Live**

 **By V. Shalyr**

* * *

 **3\. Bandit Attack**

Zeref woke from muddled dreams of the past to find Natsu finishing off the previous night's leftover roast boar and observing him from atop one of the boulders they had made camp beside. The grass immediately around the wizard was dead, but thankfully, it didn't look like any animals had come close enough to be effected. Well, that, or Natsu had eaten them already and disposed of their remains. Zeref suspected that it wouldn't have been the first time, and it was... kind of endearing how Natsu seemed to think it would make him feel less guilty.

"You want breakfast?" Natsu asked when he was sure Zeref was fully awake. The dark-haired wizard tended to react poorly to being startled.

"No, I'm okay. Thank you."

The dragon didn't press the issue, for which Zeref was grateful. Almost two weeks on the road together, and they were finally starting to get used to one another's habits. Natsu didn't insist that Zeref eat on the understanding that the wizard was not, in fact, starving himself. Zeref didn't comment on how often Natsu hunted on the understanding that the dragon turned human would, in fact, eat everything he brought down. Zeref knew that he should speak up if he was tired, and Natsu kept his distance when he sensed Zeref's Death Magic acting up—mostly for the wizard's peace of mind. Zeref didn't want to know until they absolutely had to whether or not Natsu was right about being immune.

They also talked a lot more freely than they had at the beginning. Natsu's suggestion of trading stories had settled into a sort of routine, and the more they conversed, the easier it became.

Zeref hadn't realized before just how much he had been longing for someone to talk to.

"We should be close to the next town," Natsu said, jumping down to land beside him. "If you feel up to it, I thought we could drop by to replenish our food supplies. Maybe get some bread or something. If not, it's going to be barbeque only from now on."

Did he feel up to it? Zeref was surprised to discover that yes, he did. Besides, fresh bread actually sounded pretty good, which was unusual since he so seldom had any appetite these days.

Unfortunately, their plans were interrupted just as the outskirts of the town came into view.

"I smell blood," Natsu said, grabbing the back of Zeref's robes to stop him from continuing forward. He scanned the area through narrowed eyes, nostrils flaring. "A lot of people are hurt. Badly. And something's burning."

Zeref could see the smoke now, a dark column rising towards the clouds from the other side of the town.

"I don't hear fighting though," Natsu muttered. "Whatever happened is probably over."

He was right.

When they finally crossed the boundaries of the settlement, they were met by streets strewn with debris. Broken glass glittered amidst splintered timbers, and here and there, the dirt was stained red with new blood. The townsfolk they saw were picking through the wreckage, salvaging what was still usable and trying to clean up the mess. The disheveled men and women cast the newcomers haunted, wary looks, but when neither stranger made any threatening gestures, they were ignored.

The smoke was coming from a number of houses on the far side of the town. The fires had mostly burned down already, leaving the blackened skeletons of what had once been people's homes. The former members of a bucket chain from two nearby wells sat and stood about, their clothes streaked with sweat and soot.

"Who are you?" one of the men demanded, leaping to his feet and seizing a rake from the ground beside him. The soot smudges on his face made his scowl that much darker, and it looked like the house fires had burned his eyebrows right off.

"Hey, no need for that," Natsu said, stepping between the man and Zeref just in case. "We were just passing by and thought we'd buy some provisions."

"Well, you're out of luck there," the man with no eyebrows said, lowering the rake a fraction. "As you can see, we haven't got anything left to sell. I don't even know if we have enough to feed ourselves. At least it's spring instead of winter."

He grimaced and turned his head to spit in the dirt. "The bandits took almost everything worth taking. It's the second raid this month, damn them. We're just lucky we had enough warning to get everyone who couldn't fight to safety."

Sure enough, other people were gradually emerging from the nearby woods and trickling back into the town—women, children, the elderly, and the sick. All of them were gaunt and grim-faced, but the set of their jaws and shoulders spoke of determination. It was the determination to keep on living, to pick up the pieces of their lives and keep rebuilding despite what they had lost.

Zeref often wondered where that determination came from and how people managed to keep hold of it. Just looking at all this destruction was making his insides twist with anguish that he was struggling not to feel. These people didn't need to deal with his rampant magic in addition to everything else they'd already suffered.

"You said this is the second attack in a month?" Natsu asked, frowning.

"That's right. Them bastards are getting way too bold. It's all because they've got those wizards helping them now. Almost drowned poor Danny, and threatened to block off our wells. We'd hire a guild to help us, but we can't afford the rates they're asking."

"What about the knights?"

"You mean those Rune Knights that work for that wizard council they've just thrown together? They keep telling us they'll send someone, but we haven't seen any of them yet." His lips twisted with disgust, but his blue eyes blazed with defiance. "Guess we're not _important_ enough."

Instead, the knights were wasting all their time and energy chasing Zeref down. The dark-haired wizard was not amused. Unfortunately, neither was he surprised. Perhaps time and experience had made him too cynical.

"Tell us about these bandits," Natsu said. "Maybe we can help."

The man glowered at them suspiciously. "Why would you do that? We can't pay you."

"Call it practice." Natsu grinned wickedly. "We've got some experience with magic ourselves, and if we get rid of their wizards, you'll have an easier time, right? Besides, I like fighting."

The man looked like he thought Natsu might be a bit insane, but answered anyway. If this madman wanted to fight the rogue wizards for them, who was he to argue?

Zeref waited until they had left the town before asking, "Is it really okay for us to intervene?"

"Put it this way," Natsu said, "could you forgive yourself for just walking away? It's not like we haven't got the power."

"If I get involved," Zeref said slowly, "someone might die."

Natsu considered this. "I can't say I don't think they deserve it from what we just saw, but I'll try to make sure that doesn't happen—if that's important to you. I can do all the actual fighting. You won't even have to get close. Besides, I'm not really supposed to kill humans myself unless I have a really good reason, like if they were murderers or something. It doesn't help with Dad's coexistence agenda."

"Your father sounds very unusual. I've never met a dragon who had so many views on humans."

"His name's Igneal. You might have heard of him."

Zeref had, indeed, heard of him. Natsu's father wasn't just any dragon. He was the Fire Dragon King. That... explained a lot. From what Zeref remembered, Igneal had essentially led the dragons who had fought on humanity's side during the Dragon Civil War.

"I suppose you're right. We shouldn't have too much trouble capturing two rogue wizards."

"That's right." Natsu smirked, and Zeref thought the gleam in the dragon's eyes looked rather a lot like bloodlust. "All we have to do is incapacitate them and then deliver them to the nearest guard post for the knights to pick up. Those knights aren't good for much right now in my opinion, but at least they do help with arresting rogue wizards."

Zeref nodded. He had to admit that the knights were good for that at least. The main problem was that the new wizard council was still too weak to be very effective in governing the uses of magic.

"So, you up for it?" Natsu asked, studying his expression intently.

Zeref hesitated, but eventually replied, "Yes."

The bandits had set up their headquarters deep in the woods where a stream fed into a shallow pool. According to the man with no eyebrows, both the stream and pool were artificial, created recently with spell work, which explained the lack of any water plants or fish. The band of thieves had built shelters up in the branches of the trees, and the two travelers could spot a handful of lookouts perched amidst the dense foliage.

The two of them hadn't even made their move yet, and Natsu was already grinning madly with anticipation.

The wizards chose a spot along the stream where they had an excellent view of the entire hideout, then Natsu took a deep breath and blasted the water with a gout of flames that set the water to boiling at once and sent steam hissing into the air.

Amidst the ensuing shouts of alarm, Natsu stepped out from the trees and roared, "Hey, listen up, bastards! I'm here to fight your wizards. If you don't come out right now, I'll burn your entire camp to the ground!"

Zeref hung back in the shadows, observing the bandits' reactions. The lookouts who had begun to move towards them drew back at this display of power. He could see fear on their pale faces, but there was scorn and stubbornness too. These were people who had grown accustomed to getting what they wanted. The corner of Zeref's own mouth turned downward with disdain.

After a brief discussion, a man and woman jumped down from one of the tree houses. They sported matching heads of white-blond hair, and the similarity of their features suggested that they were siblings.

The blond man sneered. "You dare to challenge us? Do you realize who we are?"

"I don't really care who you are," Natsu shot back, flames erupting about his fists. "I'm going to make you regret ever deciding to join a bunch of bandits."

"A Fire Wizard, huh?"

Zeref could tell from the cockiness in the man's tone that he thought this was going to be an easy fight. Oh how wrong he was.

The man flung his arm out and water spiraled up from the still steaming stream. Behind him, his sister was busy making sweeping, upward gestures with her hands, and Zeref could feel the energy gathering beneath them. It seemed she was drawing up more water from underground.

Natsu dodged the Water Wizards' first attack, cackling, and retaliated with a wave of fire that evaporated half the pool and blackened the earth on its bank. The female half of the duo pulled a few thin streams of water up from the dirt and froze them into shards of ice, which she sent flying through the air like javelins.

The siblings were fairly skilled as far as elemental magic went, Zeref had to give them that much. But when it came to elemental magic, dragons pretty much ruled the day.

The ice javelins hit a wall of flames and immediately vaporized.

Trusting that Natsu could handle the two wizards on his own, Zeref turned his attention to the rest of the bandits. Neither he nor Natsu had expected these people to fight fair, and so they had prepared for that. Sure enough, Zeref spotted several archers positioning themselves in the trees. Before any of them could let loose with an arrow, Zeref reached out with his own magic, struggling to blank out all thoughts and emotions aside from the task at hand. He definitely didn't need to think about how easy it would be to slip up and catch the archers themselves with his magic instead of their weapons. The wooden shafts and fletching of the arrows grew brittle and then fell apart, followed shortly by the bows themselves. Feathers fell to dust, and the bow strings snapped as though long overused.

Cries of dismay, confusion, and alarm rose from within the camp as their weapons began to give way on them.

Zeref took the opportunity to scan the area for some kind of vehicle they could use. He didn't have much time. He could feel the strangling tension at the back of his throat that he associated with an imminent episode of deadly magic, and his own panicked reaction to the feeling only made things worse. The combination made it difficult to breathe, and of course, the body's natural reaction to lack of oxygen was more panic. He was relieved when he saw several wagons and carts parked some distance from the pool to his right.

Breathe, Zeref reminded himself. Then he focused on one of the smaller wagons—one just big enough to carry two people.

Only one of the bandits—a mousy little man who had run to hide at the first sign of danger rather than take up arms—saw the clawed feet that sprouted from beneath the wagon. Under his horrified gaze, those feet dug into the dirt and propelled the wagon away from the rest, around the sizzling pool, and towards the two-person invasion force. Well, the bandits had thought it was one person at first because the second one was all but hidden amidst the shadows of the trees. But the little man hiding in his tree house saw him—saw his gaze upon the archers, saw him gesture at the moving wagon, saw him raise a hand to his head as though he had a terrible headache and then retreat into the woods out of sight—and he would remember the strange boy because of a niggling sense of wrongness that accompanied the sight of him. The bandit might have been a coward at heart, but he was an observant coward, and he never forgot anything.

Natsu tended to go a little berserk during battles, but he never lost his awareness of what was happening around him. His father called it a type of battle instinct where he could keep a level head and make calculated decisions even while throwing all the force of his emotions into winning. It was the kind of sense that one needed to win not only battles but wars, and it was useful even though they were no longer in wartime.

Natsu knew when the archers made their attempt at a long distance attack, and he knew when Zeref destroyed their weapons. He sensed the spell that brought the wagon over to them, and in the back of his mind, he noted for later that he had never sensed magic quite like it before.

He knew, also, when Zeref left the battlefield and withdrew into the woods where he could be alone.

Concern for his dark-haired companion probably made Natsu hit the two enemy wizards harder than was strictly necessary. One blow to the stomach for the first wizard and then another to the other wizard's temple, and both of his opponent's were out cold. Natsu dumped their unconscious bodies in the wagon then addressed the remaining bandits.

"I'll be dropping these two off for the Rune Knights, so I doubt you'll be seeing them again anytime soon. If the rest of you don't shape up and learn to get along with the townsfolk, you can bet you'll see someone like me back here again."

Warning delivered, Natsu prodded the wagon to see if it was going to move on its own. The thing no longer had legs, but hey, you never knew with things that had been bewitched. When it failed to stir, he grabbed a hold of one side and pushed it ahead of him into the trees, following the trail of Zeref's scent.

He found the wizard sitting beneath the now leafless branches of a dead tree with his head in is hands. Dry leaves carpeted the ground around him and stuck to his hair and clothes. It was kind of a depressing sight to be honest, and it snuffed out any sense of triumph the dragon had felt at their victory. Winning small battles like that one was easy. Other battles were not so simple.

Natsu lingered at a distance, observing the area around his traveling companion, searching for any changes. When he was sure the episode of Death Magic was over, Natsu left the wagon where it was and made his way over to stand in front of him.

"I'm sorry," Natsu said. The moment felt awkward, although he couldn't have explained why. Perhaps it was that he didn't feel this sincerely apologetic very often. "Guess maybe I shouldn't have insisted that you help. We're lucky nobody got killed, aren't we? I didn't really think about how these episodes make you feel."

Zeref shook his head slowly then lifted his gaze to meet Natsu's.

"Please don't apologize. You were right." He pulled a withered leaf from his sleeve and gave it a rueful look. "I would have hated myself for walking away, but I would have walked away anyway."

"Because of the risk," Natsu pointed out.

"Yes," Zeref agreed. "Because of that. So really, I should be thanking you. I was only able to help at all today because you were there too."

"Well, as long as you're sure you're okay," Natsu said. The uncomfortable sense of guilt that had crept over him at the sight of his new friend beneath the dead tree eased. "If you're ready, I want to get these two to the guard station on the other side of these woods before they wake up. If I have to knock them out again, I might accidentally do some permanent damage."

* * *

 **TBC...**

* * *

 **AN:** No, Zeref does not have a brother in this story. For historical facts, please stick with what is mentioned in the story. I'm still figuring out what I'm keeping and what I'm changing.

Thanks:)

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	4. Unlucky

**Disclaimer** : I do not own Fairy Tail.

 **Pairing(s)** : eventually Natsu Dragneal x Zeref

 **WARNINGS: violence, slight AU,** **shounan ai (boy/boy pairing); you have been warned so don't like, don't read**

* * *

 **The Will to Live**

 **By V. Shalyr**

* * *

 **4\. Unlucky**

The coin gleamed when Natsu held it up to the sunlight, the golden sheen so bright it looked fake. He knew it was real though. Dragons might not use human currency, but they sure as hell knew what gold looked like.

"I always thought it was only a myth that dragons liked gold," Zeref commented, amused.

Natsu stowed the coin along with its fellows in the pack he carried.

"Hey, give me a break. It's just weird to actually be getting gold coins. Who'd have thought those dark wizards had such a huge bounty on their heads? Not sure what we're going to do with all the money." Natsu grinned as they started down the road that led away from the collection of low, stone buildings that made up the small guard post. "And for your information, it's a myth that dragons like gold, but some of us do like to collect treasures and we guard the things that are precious to us. Stealing from a dragon is not a good idea. Of course, what we consider treasure might not be what most humans think of when they talk about treasure."

"Generally not gold and gemstones then?"

"Sometimes gold and gemstones," Natsu conceded. "But usually, no. For instance, there's this dragon—one of Dad's friends—living farther south that's crazy about his tea plants. He, uh, doesn't like me very much. Says I'm too much of a natural hazard."

Ah, there was that faint smile again. Natsu saw it out of the corner of his eye before the wizard turned away to look back at the road. It was a pleasant change from the weary melancholy that was Zeref's customary expression. Natsu quite liked that smile, and in truth, he also liked the fact that he was the one who had inspired it.

Behind them, the woods were a bristling strip of green along the horizon. Natsu knew his companion felt slightly uneasy about leaving the shelter of those trees, but personally, Natsu thought it was good that they were back out in open country. All those patches of dead vegetation made Zeref far too easy to track.

Natsu wondered if there was some way for them to manage Zeref's curse a little better. Aside from all the damage it caused, it was just plain inconvenient and tended to facilitate bouts of deep depression on Zeref's part. And actually, being depressed only seemed to worsen the symptoms. Natsu wasn't sure if the wizard had noticed that. Even if he had though, it wasn't like it was such an easy thing to remedy—at least not when one was alone. Loneliness was a close companion of depression.

"This road should lead us straight to the river, right?" Natsu asked, looking across the grassy hills that had replaced their previous view of dense forest and underbrush. The packed dirt path ran ahead of them, winding through the hills like a pale brown serpent.

"If this map is accurate," Zeref replied. He removed the map from his own pack and unfolded it, skimming its contents one more time. "There shouldn't be any more settlements before we reach a river town by the name of Crinko. From there, it should be easy to follow the river upstream. There are a great many roads and towns along the way though, since it's a good source of fresh water. I believe a lot of merchants and traders also use the river to transport their goods."

The dragon wizard nodded. "I remember seeing those boats when I flew by, but we'll worry about all that when we get there."

Then there was that report of a dragon attack that he should probably look into.

Zeref refolded the map with a sigh. "I envy how you can do that?"

"Do what?"

"Only worry about something when it happens."

"I've never been the long-term planning sort, but you know, it's also something you have to practice. You have to believe that everything will turn out the way you want so that you'll fight for it and think of ways to make it happen."

"That's easier said than done. So many things could go wrong."

"Yeah? Like what?"

Zeref thought for a moment. "Well, the knights you chased off could find us. The dark wizards you turned in to the guards could escape and come looking for us, which would be troublesome. People often hold grudges, and dark wizards can be unpleasantly persistent. We could get caught up in another conflict. My magic could go out of control when we reach the next settlement and kill everyone. Some other group of wizards could try to capture me to make me do something for them. It has happened before. The curse breaker we are looking for might not really exist, or even if she does, perhaps she has already passed away. Dragons are not good at keeping track of short, human lives, and it is not a safe time for anyone. She might not have the right expertise to help us. Perhaps you will tire of traveling with me, and then I'll be on my own again..."

He trailed off and they continued on in silence for a long minute while Natsu thought all of this over.

"Wow, you can be really negative," the dragon said at last. "What kind of journey are you expecting us to have? Seriously, I—"

He was interrupted by the distant sound of hooves followed by a horse's scream and a man's cry of pain.

Zeref gave him a look like "I told you so" and they hurried forward.

They rounded a steep hill and almost ran into the person sprawled half on and half off the road in a growing puddle of his own blood. The man's horse was a rapidly disappearing speck of gray in the distance, having thrown off its rider in its terror. The stench of copper and decay was so strong that even Zeref could smell it, and he lifted his sleeve to cover his nose.

Natsu swore and crouched to examine the stranger's wounds more closely. He needed a healer immediately or else he was probably going to die. He'd lost far too much blood, and Natsu could smell poison—something bitter and corrosive.

"What happened?" he asked aloud, not actually expecting an answer.

The man turned dimming eyes towards them and opened his mouth. When he spoke, his voice was dry and cracked.

"The guard post..."

"You almost reached it," Natsu told him. "I can bring them a message for you, and I'm sure they had a healer there so don't go dying on us just yet."

"A monster... Aulia..." The man broke off into a coughing fit.

Natsu stood up and turned to his traveling companion.

"I'll be right back—unless you'd rather go back to the guard station while I stay here?"

Zeref shook his head. "I'll stay. There's something strange about his injuries. I'd like to take a look at them."

After Natsu had gone, Zeref knelt down, careful to avoid the red seeping across the dirt, and ran a hand gingerly along the man's left side. His tunic was torn there along his ribs and abdomen, and the fabric was sticky with blood. The feel of it made Zeref want to draw back, but he could sense something about the wound—something prickly and malicious that tugged at his magical senses.

Zeref was thankful that the man had already lost consciousness, or else this would have felt rather awkward. Carefully, he separated the fabric from the skin and peeled it back. There was definitely something long and thin lodged in the gash. When Zeref's fingers brushed it, a shock ran up his arm and he jerked his hand back. The man groaned.

Looked like he had better wait for the healer. Still, even that brief contact had been enough for him to tell that, however unlikely it seemed, the thing cutting into the man's flesh was a slip of paper.

Natsu returned less than half an hour later with half a dozen guards and a horse-drawn cart. One of the guards had the star-shaped emblem of a healer stitched on the shoulder of her green surcoat. She leapt from the cart even before it had rolled to a complete stop and knelt on the injured man's other side.

"There's a piece of paper in his side," Zeref told her as she set about examining her patient. "There's magic in it, something poisonous I think."

The woman worried at her lower lip, pressing her fingers gently along the cut. She was wearing a pair of thin, green gloves, their backs covered with rows of tiny runes.

"I think you're right. I'm going to have to remove it before we can staunch the bleeding and get him back to the guard post for further treatment."

That said, she pinched the two visible corners of the paper between the thumb and forefinger of each hand, gritted her teeth, and pulled. Slowly, the blood-soaked strip slid free until she held a rectangular piece of paper roughly twice the size of her palm. The markings upon it glowed a fierce orange even through the blood.

"Good thing it didn't tear," she muttered, holding the paper up as far away from her body as she could. "The spell on it must have made it stronger. We need something safe to put it in for now until we can find someone to destroy it properly. It's a nasty piece of work, and I don't think anyone but me should touch it. My gloves are enchanted to ward off contamination from artifacts like these."

"If you just drop it on the ground out of the way, I can destroy it," Natsu said. "Better put it in the center of the road so all the grass around here doesn't go up in smoke."

She blinked up at him, startled. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah it's no problem."

The healer hesitated but did as he asked, gently laying the strip of paper several paces away in the middle of the road. When Natsu judged that she had retreated far enough back, he sent a carefully controlled jet of fire towards it. The paper caught fire almost at once, and within seconds, there was nothing left of it but a scorch mark upon the earth.

The healer let out the breath she had been holding in a rush. "That's amazing. There's no trace of magic left at all."

Natsu only shrugged. "You can think of it as a unique property of advanced Fire Dragon Slayer Magic."

Behind them, the other guards busied themselves tying a temporary bandage around the man's middle and then lifting him into the cart, which they had padded with straw.

Zeref moved over to stand next to Natsu, and the healer turned to face them both.

"I'm sorry, I know you probably have somewhere to be, but it would help us a lot if you could come with us back to the station and tell us exactly what happened," she said. She liffted her arm to push a stray lock of chestnut hair from her eyes, not wanting to use her blood-stained gloves. "It shouldn't take too long, but we have to get this man to the station as quickly as possible."

Natsu hesitated and glanced at Zeref.

The shorter wizard sighed. "We understand."

"Thank you." The healer smiled, relieved, and got up into the cart with her patient. The guard leading the horses started them walking, and the whole group proceeded back the way it had come with the two wizards following several paces behind.

"All right," Natsu said when the guards were a good distance ahead of them, "so maybe you might be a little unlucky. I met one dark wizard in the three weeks I was traveling before I met you. And now, we're on what's probably dark wizard number three in as many days."

Zeref lowered his head, but Natsu wasn't finished yet.

"But I was thinking about what you said, and here's what I think."

He glanced to his side to make sure Zeref was listening before he continued.

"The knights probably will catch up with us again, that's true. But since we know it's going to happen, we can plan for it—unless what you're hoping for is that they'll manage to off you and you're worried about them _not_ succeeding. If that's the case, I'm going to hit you, so it better not be the case. If the curse breaker really does turn out not to be able to help us, we'll just find another way. There's always another way if you look hard enough. Hell, dragon fire has really strong anti-magic properties and you know a lot about magic. Between the two of us, maybe we could figure out a way to break these curses ourselves. As for everything else, I'm getting good at telling when your magic's going to act up. That should help decrease the number of casualties, and the fewer casualties there are, the less reason people will have to notice you."

Natsu paused to let this sink in then added, "And I won't just leave you on your own, all right? That's a promise, and I always keep my promises."

They were simple words, but they brought a tightness to Zeref's throat that was different from the warning signs for his magic. He lifted his gaze to find Natsu watching him, and he discovered that he couldn't look away even though part of him found it incredibly difficult to meet the dragon's intense stare.

"You don't have to keep that promise," Zeref said finally, although he dreaded the thought of being alone again. "We still don't know each other all that well. You might change your mind."

Natsu shook his head and slung an arm around his shoulders, ignoring the wizard's attempt to shy away. "I know you better than you think. Besides, I trust my instincts, and my instincts tell me that there's something special about you that I might want to hold on to."

It was not the first time someone had thought Zeref was "special". Generally speaking, the people who thought he was special were people he never wanted to see again. He'd often wondered why anyone would actually _want_ to be special. But when Natsu said it, it felt different. At the very least, he had learned enough of the dragon to know that he wasn't referring to Zeref's ability to kill vast numbers of people by just thinking about it. Nor did the dragon appear to care about what unusual magic he could perform, although he had asked about some of it with great curiosity. And if it wasn't for any of those reasons... maybe being special to someone wasn't all that bad.

* * *

 **TBC...**

* * *

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	5. A Village Secret

**Disclaimer** : I do not own Fairy Tail.

 **Pairing(s)** : eventually Natsu Dragneal x Zeref

 **WARNINGS: violence, alternative history,** **shounan ai (boy/boy pairing); you have been warned so don't like, don't read**

* * *

 **The Will to Live**

 **By V. Shalyr**

* * *

 **5\. A Village Secret**

"He's going to be out for awhile," the healer announced, shutting the door of the makeshift infirmary behind her and wiping the sweat from her brow. "Magical poisons are tough to recover from, even with the help of healing spells. He's lucky I studied poisons so extensively."

She offered the two wizards seated at the room's single, wooden table a weary smile and added, "Thanks for waiting. My name's Amika, and as you can see, I'm a healer. I'm also the only wizard working at this guard post at the moment. We're supposed to be getting another recruit with some skill in combat magic, but he's still in training for another month or so."

Before either wizard could respond, the sitting room's other door opened and another guard walked in, removing his helmet as he went and running a hand through his short, red hair.

"We caught his horse," he said, dropping into one of the unoccupied chairs. "The poor creature's still frantic. Damn near ran itself lame. We gave it some of that sleep powder you put together for us." He nodded at their guests. "You can call me Daniel. I've been assigned to work with Amika on this," he waved vaguely, "whatever it is. Did that man say anything when you found him?"

Natsu was the one who answered. "Yeah. He mentioned this guard post, and then he said something about a monster called Aulia."

Amika's brow furrowed. "Aulia?"

"That's what it sounded like."

"I don't know about any monsters," the other guard said slowly, "but there's a farming village not too far from here called Aulia."

"I thought there weren't any villages or towns between here and the Glass River," Zeref said, frowning. "Is our map out of date?"

"Not necessarily. It's a pretty small village, so mapmakers often just don't bother to include it. If you let me see your map, I can show you where it is."

Zeref unfolded the map upon the table, and Daniel leaned forward.

"Hmmm, as I thought. This map's more or less correct, but it's missing some of the smaller settlements in this area. See here?" He pointed at a spot amidst the hills. "This is where Aulia should be."

"If Aulia's not the name of a monster," Natsu said, "I guess that means he was trying to tell us that there's a monster there right now."

The four of them fell silent. "Monster" could mean a lot of things.

"He came all this way to ask for help despite how badly he was hurt," Amika murmured, chewing her lip. "We'll have to go see, but—oh, I wish we had more help! I'm just not good at combat magic, but there's definitely magic involved and that has to mean a wizard. If we knew what to expect, we could prepare, but with so little information..."

She stopped and looked at the other two wizards present.

"Could you maybe come with us? I know it's out of your way, but we could pay you for your trouble. We'd really appreciate the help."

Zeref glanced at Natsu, who looked back with a slightly raised eyebrow. The dark-haired wizard had the feeling that the dragon was waiting to see if Zeref felt okay to go. Yes, Natsu liked fighting and didn't mind helping when asked, but the incident with the bandits had reminded him that for Zeref, the matter wasn't as straightforward.

Perhaps Natsu had been right and they knew each other better than Zeref had thought.

So then... was he okay with going? In his mind, Zeref saw the bloodstains left upon the road and felt the shock of malice when his fingers touched the piece of paper that had very nearly cost the man in the next room his life.

Zeref closed his eyes for a moment, evaluating his own state of mind, then opened them again and looked at the two guards.

"All right, we will help you."

.

Upon first glance, there didn't seem to be anything amiss about the village. A few of the farmers working out in the fields waved and called out greetings as they passed, and a child who had been pulling weeds darted ahead of them to tell the villagers of their arrival. There was no smoke, no sign of damage to the houses—and the people were even smiling.

It was hard to reconcile the sheer normalcy of the picture with the injured man bleeding out on the side of the road.

Natsu didn't like it. It felt wrong, and as he had told Zeref, he trusted his instincts. Something wasn't right in this village, and if he didn't smell blood yet, it just meant that they had to look a little harder. He was sure that Zeref felt it too. The dark-haired wizard had moved to walk closer to Natsu and was surveying the buildings around them with a slight frown.

An old man who identified himself as one of the village elders met them when they reached the main village square.

"What brings you to our humble home?" he asked, nodding respectfully to the two guards.

Daniel and Amika exchanged bewildered looks.

"A man came to us earlier today to ask for help," Amika said at last. "We thought he came to us from this village."

"I'm sorry?" The old man cocked his head and clasped his wrinkled hands behind his back. "You must be mistaken. I don't believe anyone has left the village today. There is far too much work to be done at the moment."

He's lying, Natsu thought. It wasn't anything obvious, but the dragon had always been able to tell when a person's expression was insincere. It came from a certain mismatched quality or discord in what he sensed that he found incredibly irritating.

"I suppose we could have made a mistake," Daniel said, "but you have to understand, we need to be sure about these things. When a man nearly dies on our doorstep, it's our job to follow up on it."

"It was that serious?"

"It was," Daniel confirmed. "Fortunately for him, Amika was able to save him. But he mentioned this place to us, and so we really can't just leave. If we could just have a quick look around to see if we can find any clues as to whether he was here?"

The elder hesitated, but he seemed to realize that it would be strange to refuse.

"Of course," he replied at last, his long, white beard swaying when he nodded. "Please take your time. I'll send Jema with you—in case you need anything."

He beckoned to one of the children who had been playing games on the other side of the plaza. She ran over to them, lost one slipper, paused to toe it back on, and then continued.

"What is it, Grandfather?"

"Jema, these people would like to look around our village. Will you please accompany them and show them around?"

The girl nodded, her round face turned towards the strangers with obvious curiosity.

Natsu watched the old man depart through narrowed eyes, not looking away until he'd seen the white-haired figure disappear into the largest building among those that lined the plaza.

"He's definitely hiding something," he said quietly so that only Zeref could hear.

The wizard nodded. "I'm... a little concerned for the man back at the guard station. I think it may have been unwise to reveal that he survived."

"You think whoever attacked him in the first place will try to finish him off?"

"Maybe. It would be the smart thing to do."

Natsu grunted at that. Smart thing or not, it just made whoever was behind all this more of a bastard.

The two wizards hung back while Jema led Amika and Daniel through the village. The girl chattered almost nonstop, introducing different buildings with no small amount of pride and answering the guards' occasional questions.

"We didn't used to be able to grow so much food," she said, throwing her arms wide to indicate the fields. "But then Shelsy came and taught us all how to make the earth better. Now we always have wonderful harvests, and all the other towns and villages want to buy from us."

"Shelsy?" Amika repeated. "Who's that?"

"She's a lady that lives in the big house. She's very beautiful. I hope I grow up to be just like her."

Daniel chuckled. "So you like living in this village, Jema?"

"It's the best place there is," she agreed without hesitation, which was very likely why she had been chosen as their guide in the first place. But then she added in a conspiratorial whisper, "Most of the time anyway."

"Only most of the time?" Amika asked.

The smile faded from Jema's face and she glanced furtively around. "I'm not supposed to say. One of my friends told me about it, and he wasn't supposed to know, which means I'm not supposed to know either."

"We won't tell," Daniel assured her, dropping his own voice to a whisper as well and crouching down so that he was on Jema's level. "Why isn't it always nice here?"

The child cupped her hands around her mouth and leaned close to the redhead's ear to tell him her secret in a whispered rush. It was very quiet, but Natsu could hear all the words clearly.

"Sometimes," the girl said, "people disappear. The elder says that they go away to live in other villages, but my friend—he said that's not true. He said," and here, her voice grew even quieter, strained by nervous fear and the excitement of a child still unable to comprehend the true extent of what she was describing, "he said they go into the garden of the big house and never come out again. He said he saw the ground open up and swallow his cousin, and that he's sure the ground ate all the others too."

Beside Natsu, Zeref pulled his loose robes tighter about himself as though chilled.

The guardsmen took several long seconds to recollect themselves and respond to the girl's story.

"That's very interesting," Amika told her, forcing a smile. "I'm glad you told us, but don't tell anyone else, okay?"

"Okay," Jema agreed readily. "I wasn't planning to anyway."

"And this friend of yours," the healer added, catching the girl's hand and giving it a light squeeze. "Do you think we might be able to talk to him?"

Jema pursed her lips and regarded the four of them doubtfully. "His parents grounded him. I can talk to him from the bushes outside his window, but I don't think all of you will be able to hide there."

Natsu spoke up when the guardsmen hesitated. "That's all right. My friend and I don't need to talk to him. We'll just take a walk and meet you three back at the plaza."

They'd be able to snoop around more easily on their own since they weren't wearing guardsmen's uniforms.

As soon as the three had gone, Natsu and Zeref made their way back to the village square and the large house they had seen the old man enter. It was easily the largest house in the entire village, and they guessed that when Jema said "the big house", it was the one she had in mind. It was also the only house whose garden had been sectioned off with high, mud brick walls.

While Zeref kept an eye out for passersby, Natsu scaled the wall and peered over it into the garden beyond.

"Is there anything unusual?" Zeref asked.

"Not exactly," Natsu said, voice flat. He jumped back down, frowning. "It's empty. You only know it's a garden because it doesn't look much like anything else. There's one dead tree in the corner, but other than that, it's just bare dirt. And—it's very faint, but I smell blood."

"New?"

"Old and new," Natsu replied grimly. "Can you sense anything down there? If there is something, I think it's underground."

Zeref shut his eyes and reached out with his wizard's senses, feeling for any traces of magic. What he found made his eyes snap open again.

"There is most definitely something under the garden," he said. "Perhaps a chamber of some kind. But there are also very faint hints of magic all over this village. Out in the fields especially."

"In the fields, huh? I don't like the sound of that."

Zeref agreed. "Neither do I."

In their minds, they heard Jema's words all over again.

 _Now_ , she said, _now we always have wonderful harvests_.

* * *

 **TBC...**

* * *

 **.**


	6. Feeding the Earth

**Disclaimer** : I do not own Fairy Tail.

 **Pairing(s)** : eventually Natsu Dragneal x Zeref

 **WARNINGS: violence, alternative history,** **shounan ai (boy/boy pairing); you have been warned so don't like, don't read**

* * *

 **The Will to Live**

 **By V. Shalyr**

* * *

 **6\. Feeding the Earth**

The guardsmen's tents were a mottled brown and green that blended neatly into the hillside at night—not too pale, but not so black either that it seemed unnatural. They had brought three of them, which was all that the guard post had had on hand. It wasn't like the people stationed there were expected to do much camping out.

With the tents to hide them, nobody in the village would be able to see them unless they walked quite close. As far as the villagers knew, the four strangers had departed in the afternoon—none the wiser for their visit—and had no reason to return.

Zeref sat cross-legged on one side of the rather cramped space inside their tent. He was uncomfortable sharing such close quarters with another person but neither did he want to be alone. The thought of being alone surrounded by walls, even walls made of waterproof fabric, was depressing. So in the end, it was decided that he and Natsu would share the largest of the three tents while each of their two traveling companions slept in their own.

Granted, it was doubtful that any of them would actually get any sleep. They had stayed to watch the village after all, and most of the evening had been spent peering through the tent flaps towards the nearest row of wood and mud brick houses.

"Do you think they really have a wizard who's sacrificing people to make their crops grow better?" Natsu asked from his own seat by the tent entrance. He had the best night vision and was, by default, the most effective lookout.

"That is how it seems," Zeref replied, eyes closed and hands resting lightly on his knees. "If you want to give life to something using magic, you often have to give up life in return—or life energy."

"What about you?" Natsu asked, "If you don't mind me asking. You don't have to answer."

"Me?"

"I heard you can create demons. And there was that cart we used to carry the bandits."

"Demons are... complicated. That energy comes mostly from the atmosphere, but I also give them some of mine."

"Your life energy?"

"Yes. For small magic like with the cart, I just took the energy back when it wasn't needed anymore. And of course, it's not like a person only has a set amount of energy. If I rested, I would have recovered it on my own."

"You're going to have to explain all that in more detail to me sometime," Natsu said, shaking his head. "Sounds like sticky business. I mean, why would you want to go creating demons in the first place?"

Natsu regretted the question when his companion's shoulders hunched a little in response. Before the dragon could tell him that it was okay if he didn't answer that, however, Zeref did.

"I was... looking for a way to bring back the dead. And then later... I was looking for a way to die."

Natsu glanced at the wizard's hands, which were trembling, the nails digging into the skin of his knees through the fabric of his robes. Natsu wanted to reach over and stop him from hurting himself, but he knew that right at this moment, it wouldn't make a difference. The real source of the Black Wizard's pain ran much deeper than the skin, and anything else was just a distraction.

"Well, if that's what you were going for, I'm glad you didn't succeed," Natsu said instead, keeping his tone deliberately light. "My trip wouldn't have been nearly this interesting without you. Is there any change in the village?"

Very slowly, Zeref relaxed, focusing back on their present problem.

"Give me a minute..."

Natsu waited patiently for him to do a thorough scan of the area, glad that the village and its problems were enough to occupy Zeref's mind. That didn't mean Natsu wasn't still thinking about what the boy had said though. Compared to a dragon's lifespan, human lives really did seem so incredibly brief. Not to mention incredibly fragile. Perhaps that gave them a different perspective on things like living and dyingg.

"I don't..." Zeref started then stopped. His brow wrinkled, and then abruptly, his eyes snapped open. "The road we arrived by—!"

Natsu was up and out of the tent at once, racing across the fields towards the road. Zeref scrambled to his feet and followed, relying on his magical senses to guide him rather than his vision.

.

Amika heard the two wizards leave their tent from her own tent next door. She crawled out of her sleeping bag and stumbled out into the night, squinting through the darkness. She had no idea how the two managed to move so quickly with so little light, but she was grateful for their assistance. Every time she thought of the things that Jema and her friend had told them, her stomach churned with unease. Unfortunately, they hadn't found any solid proof of ill doings in the village, and the words of children weren't enough to launch a full scale investigation.

It sickened her how most of the adults in the village seemed to simply accept the disappearances as a part of life. They couldn't really be that blind to what was happening, could they? Or had life really been so hard that losing a relative or neighbor every now and then seemed a tolerable price to pay? She couldn't—wouldn't—understand it.

"What's happening?" she heard Daniel's voice out of the darkness accompanied by the rustle of cloth.

Amika turned towards him and glimpsed the glint of moonlight off his helmet.

"I think they sensed something," she replied quietly.

The two of them waited, listening in tense silence.

"I don't know much about magic," Daniel said after several long seconds, "but they're quite powerful wizards, aren't they?"

"I think so," Amika said, "but I can't explain why. It's just a feeling I have."

"They are a bit eccentric," Daniel said, joking. "As far as I can tell, powerful wizards are always a little odd."

Amika didn't laugh. She wondered why the two wizards had agreed to help them, and she wondered why they were traveling and where it was they were going.

It felt like an eternity later when Natsu and Zeref returned. The guardsmen saw them from quite some distance away, their gazes captured by the glow of orange symbols cutting through the night.

"Is this enough evidence?" Natsu asked, holding up what, at first glance, appeared to be a struggling serpent etched with vivid orange markings.

Upon closer inspection, however, the thing twisting and writhing in his hand was a long strip of paper—not unlike the one they had removed from the injured messenger. The Dragon Slayer had tied it into several knots to shorten it and restrict its movements.

"It left the large house in the village plaza a few minutes ago," Zeref added, his voice quiet and calm. "We caught it in the grass by the road leading towards the guard post."

When Daniel spoke, his voice was hard. "Yeah, I think that's enough evidence."

"Do you need our help arresting the wizard too?" Natsu asked.

Amika hesitated. "Are you sure you could do it? With this paper as proof, we can send to headquarters for reinforcements."

In the orange glow, Natsu's fanged grinned looked demonic.

"You kidding? Of course we can."

"We should go now," Zeref said, his face turned towards the village. "Before the spell caster hides again."

"What should we do with this?" Natsu asked, waving the struggling strip of paper about.

The two guards took a step back.

"I have a bag that should be able to hold it," Amika said. "I use it for magical supplies, so it has several protective charms on it."

She hurried back to her tent and returned with the bag in question. Natsu took it and stuffed the strip of paper into it before pulling the drawstring tight. The bag swung wildly from his hands as the thing inside fought to escape, but the spells on the leather held.

"She's running," Zeref said urgently. "She knows we intercepted her spell."

"Well, let's not keep her waiting."

Natsu tossed the bag into their tent, and the two wizards were off again. Behind them, Daniel and Amika looked at each other.

"Should we follow them?" Daniel asked uncertainly. He was no wizard, and he had to admit that the thought of being caught in the middle of a spell battle made the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end.

"I... suppose we should," Amika said, the words leaving her mouth with reluctance for very similar reasons. "There should be witnesses, and they don't actually have the authority to arrest her. But... perhaps we don't have to follow that quickly."

.

 _She_.

The woman who had come to the village and "improved" it—at a price.

Shelsy grabbed the bag she always had packed and ready to go and left her workroom under the garden without bothering to reseal the entrance behind her. She hadn't survived this long by waiting around for unnecessary confrontations. All she needed were a few tools to ensure her spells worked, and she'd be able to make a place for herself anywhere. There probably wouldn't be a place as ideal as this isolated village, but she'd manage. She always did.

When the village elder had come to tell her of the guardsmen's visit, she hadn't been all that concerned. It wasn't until her spell had been captured that she'd begun to worry.

The village was silent as she hurried through it, all of its inhabitants fast asleep. None of them would be able to give away the direction of her departure.

Past the last house in the north, through the freshly tilled fields, and out into the surrounding hills—her heartbeat sped up. She was going to make it.

Just as she broke into a full out run, a jet of fire shot past her, lighting a wall of flames right across her path. Shelsy stopped and turned, her face a mask of rage. She was not going to fall here, not after all the trouble she had gone through.

Shelsy pulled a fistful of paper tags from her pack and threw them into the air. Rather than drift to the ground, the numerous pieces of paper rose, reoriented themselves, and flew like a flock of paper-thin knives at her attackers. A wild laugh reached her ears and another blast of fire met her spell tags and devoured them, incinerating both magic and paper alike. Her heart began to pound in earnest, this time with fear, and she turned to throw herself through the wall of fire. Before she could, however, a row of runes stenciled themselves in the air before her, blocking her way. She turned left, but there were runes there too, glowing faintly in shades of violet so dark they looked almost black. With a sinking feeling in her stomach, she realized that somehow, in the few seconds she had taken to launch her attack, someone had boxed her in.

Her mouth set in a grim line, she turned back around to face the two wizards who had captured her. They were not wearing the green uniform of the guards. Nor were they dressed in the white and silver of the Rune Knights.

Just her luck, she thought sourly. Powerful, nosy bystanders.

.

"Well, that was easy," Natsu said, letting the flames around him die. "Will those runes of yours last?"

"They should," Zeref replied, letting his hands fall back to his sides. "I've set the parameters to nullify her magic. She won't be going anywhere until the guards or the knights send someone to pick her up."

The dark-haired woman within the box of glowing runes scowled at them.

"I'll remember you," she told them coldly.

And Natsu thought how ironic it was that they had heard the same words from the Rune Knights not so long ago.

"We're very memorable," he said.

Natsu's comment only made her expression darken further, but she said nothing more.

"The villagers probably won't thank us," Zeref said as their remaining companions jogged up to them. "You may have to stand watch here to make sure they don't try to help her."

"I'll stay," Daniel volunteered. "Amika, if you could just go back for reinforcements?"

The healer glanced from her fellow guard to their new prisoner then back again. Something about the woman made her uncomfortable, but then it wasn't every day that she met an actual dark wizard. Perhaps she was just being paranoid.

"I'll go, but be careful."

"I will."

"Do not let anyone near her," Zeref cautioned. "That prison is made to keep her in. But since I won't be staying, I had to make adjustments so that it is easier to break from the outside for when your people arrive."

"Got it." The guardsman waved his hand. "I know what I'm doing."

His companions hesitated, but there wasn't much else they could do. Instead, they fetched their belongings, packed the tents, brought Daniel's supplies to him, and started on the long trek back to the guard station. They could sleep when all of this was over.

.

Shelsy watched them go through unblinking eyes. She knew she was outmatched in a head to head fight with those wizards, but she was patient. And as she had told them, she never forgot her grudges. The wild-haired Fire Wizard had to be a Dragon Slayer. She knew what human Fire Magic was like, and that was not it. It was the other wizard who puzzled her. There was something not quite right about his face, like she was looking at someone both very young and very old at the same time. It was a quality that she recognized because she saw it in the mirror every day. Did he, too, have to go through all the hassle she did in order to remain so young? She didn't know yet, but she was going to find out.

This thought eased some of the resentment coiled in her chest. This could turn out to be an unexpected stroke of luck.

She glanced towards the guardsman who had drawn his sword and sat down with it across his lap. No, he looked too straightforward and honest to be bribed or easily tricked. But she would get her chance eventually, perhaps when the guards released her from these runes to transport her to a proper prison. After all, they only knew a fraction of her secrets.

* * *

 **TBC...**

* * *

 **.**


	7. Paper Flowers

**Disclaimer** : I do not own Fairy Tail.

 **Pairing(s)** : eventually Natsu Dragneal x Zeref

 **WARNINGS: violence, alternative history,** **shounan ai (boy/boy pairing); you have been warned so don't like, don't read**

* * *

 **The Will to Live**

 **By V. Shalyr**

* * *

 **7\. Paper Flowers**

"I wonder what the villagers will do now."

Natsu glanced across the campfire. "You're still thinking about that?"

Zeref lowered his head. "They cannot rely on her magic to give them plentiful harvests anymore. They did not seem as resilient as the townsfolk we met in the forest, and unlike in the forest, there aren't many wild plants to gather out on these hills or animals to hunt. What they allowed to happen was wrong, but I still wonder what will happen now."

"They'll just have to figure things out like everyone else," Natsu said, polishing off the rest of his sandwich. They'd gotten several from the guard post as part of their payment. "It's not fair to sacrifice other people just to make your own life easier. Not like that."

Zeref nodded slowly. "It is easy to make sacrifices when you are not the one who is hurt. I'm sure many of the people who were killed would have preferred to live."

Certainly, the man in the road hadn't been willing to die in such a way.

There was a brief silence punctuated by the crackle of burning twigs and branches, then Natsu said, "We could send them the money we got for helping with the arrest. There's quite a lot of it, and it's not like we really need more money."

There was another silence, and then Zeref nodded. That hadn't occurred to him. It had been decades since he'd carried anything on him of any value.

"I think... that would be good."

.

With the bandits and the dark wizard in the village, both travelers were surprised to arrive in Crinko with no further incident. When they crested the last hill to see the glitter of sunlight like gold upon aquamarine water, both of them stopped, momentarily arrested by the sight. The map certainly didn't do the river justice. The Glass River with its crystalline waters and slow-moving current was so vast that they couldn't see the opposite shore from where they stood.

"It looks really different from the ground," Natsu marveled.

"It is quite impressive," Zeref agreed, turning his face into the cool breeze that blew across the water. "I have not been this way in a long time. I had almost forgotten."

"It's a nice view," Natsu said, "but I think it's even more striking from the air. When I can transform back, I'll take you flying so you can see it for yourself."

The shorter boy hesitated, glancing at him to check if he actually meant this, then said, "I'd like that."

The town of Crinko was a colorful, sprawling mess upon the riverbank with docks extending like fingers out over the water. Boats of all shapes and sizes crowded about the wooden piers, and despite the early hour, the place was already bustling with people loading and unloading cargo.

Zeref took a step down the road that led towards the town's main gates and hesitated. "Maybe I should stay here..."

"No," Natsu said firmly. "I'm not leaving you out here by yourself. We're traveling together, remember? Besides, we've been camping out for weeks. Don't you want a hot bath?"

"But, Natsu—"

" I told you, I'm getting good at telling when your magic's going to be a problem. I'll keep an eye on it for you and get you somewhere isolated if need be. Besides, I have an idea."

Zeref wanted to protest. He wanted to ask what idea Natsu was talking about, but it was too late. The dragon wizard had already shepherded him down the road, through the gates, and onto the busy town streets.

They were instantly swamped by noise. Here, three woman passed by laughing and chattering, their arms laden with bags from the marketplace. There, a group of children chased one another from alley to alley, shouting and tossing a ball of rags. One man strode by pushing a cart of oranges ahead of him and advertising at the top of his voice, and another sprinted the other way with his arms full of burlap-wrapped packages.

Zeref shrank away from all of it, hunching his shoulders and lowering his head so that his loose, dark hair obscured his features. He shouldn't— _couldn't_ —be here. It was too risky. If something went wrong—

A calloused hand closed around his wrist, interrupting his jumbled thoughts.

"Don't think about them," Natsu said by his ear. "Nothing's going to happen. Trust me. I know what I'm doing."

Natsu released his wrist and moved his arm around the boy instead, guiding him deftly through the crowd and shielding him from the brunt of the chaos.

Zeref inhaled deeply, held the air for a moment, then let it out in a slow, measured exhale. Natsu was right. He had to stop thinking about all the people around them. Instead, he focused on just breathing and let his companion direct his footsteps.

"This inn doesn't look too busy," Natsu muttered.

The next thing Zeref knew, they were stepping into the dimly lit lobby of an inn. Natsu left him by the oil painting of a ship at sea before approaching the front desk, and Zeref cautiously glanced around.

Aside from the paintings hung side by side along the walls, the inn's lobby contained a number of leafy, green plants in earthenware pots. Zeref edged away from the nearest of these just in case. Unlike many other inns, this one had no tavern or other eatery attached to it, which probably explained why it was so quiet. The plain brown carpet under his feet was worn but clean, and the air smelled faintly of soap.

A minute later, Natsu returned with an entire ring of keys.

Zeref regarded the keys with confusion. "Why are there so many?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Natsu said, sounding very pleased with himself as he ushered his companion up a flight of stairs. "I got the rooms on either side of ours, as well as the rooms directly above and below us. I think the innkeeper thinks I'm crazy, but whatever. This way, it won't matter if your magic goes haywire because there won't be anyone close enough to be effected."

Zeref opened then shut his mouth. He had no idea what to say to that except perhaps, "But... that's incredibly expensive."

"So what? It's not like we can't afford it. We hardly spend money on anything, and no one said we'd be doing this often."

It was difficult to argue with this logic, and Zeref found that he didn't really want to. He didn't really want to stay out on the hills by himself, and if he didn't have to worry about people wandering too close to him at a bad time... then he would really prefer to listen to something other than empty silence and his own morbid thoughts.

So rather than say anything more on the matter, Zeref sank down onto the room's sagging couch and watched quietly while Natsu inspected their temporary living quarters.

"Seems comfortable enough," Natsu decided, pulling the curtains over the window aside and glancing out at the neighboring buildings. "And it's easy to hear people out in the hall. I suppose that would normally be bad, but in our case..."

He shrugged and turned to catch Zeref's gaze. "So... is this all right?"

The boy blinked, startled by suddenly being asked such a question. Natsu hadn't exactly given him much of a choice in the matter up to this point, but then perhaps that was because he knew what Zeref's answer would have been if he had asked outside the town gates.

"Yes," the wizard said, glancing past Natsu at the clear blue sky then meeting his eyes once more. "I think... this will be fine."

And that was the end of the discussion. Natsu went on to ask him about sending aid to Aulia from the local post office before leaving to get that particular errand out of the way. Zeref moved to sit on the windowsill so he could watch him go, then turned his attention to the mass of people flowing this way and that through the street.

It wasn't the first time Zeref had passed through a densely populated town like this one since he had been cursed, but it was the first time he had lingered. He felt like he was dreaming—not a good or a bad dream, but the kind of dream that distant memories sometimes became with just that tiny touch of unreality.

Frankly, his entire trip with Natsu so far had felt a little like that. Unreal.

How long had it been since he'd been able to just sit and listen to the sound of people living their lives? He'd grown so accustomed to maintaining his distance, keeping all his interactions with others to a minimum—not just because of his magic, but also because of the ambitious or frightened people who always seemed to be hunting him down. Sitting here on this windowsill looking at Crinko's busy streets, he was reminded of how removed he had become from life and society in general. Did this trouble him? If asked this question a few months ago, he would have said yes without hesitation, but now... After starting to travel with Natsu, Zeref had discovered that mostly, he had just been incredibly lonely. He wanted to be able to talk to others without having to worry. He wanted to be able to walk through a forest without killing half the trees and scaring away all the animals. He wanted, more than anything, to feel like he belonged somewhere.

The vase of flowers that the inn staff had placed on the coffee table wilted, their once yellow petals drifting down to litter the tabletop.

Zeref sighed. Right, he had to think about something else. Natsu had been right about the appeal of a hot bath. Maybe that would help clear his mind of these solemn thoughts.

.

Natsu paused outside the post office when he felt his companion's magic flare. Yeah, he was expecting that to happen sooner or later.

Natsu hoped he had done the right thing. Or at least not the wrong thing.

Being here was probably reminding Zeref of what his curse had cost him. That was unavoidable. But Natsu hoped that it would also help him see that he could still find a way to live in this world of theirs. It wouldn't be simple or easy, not with a curse like that, but then making your own way in the world seldom was. People had to make the best of what they had, and really, Natsu had seen humans do a lot more with a lot less. Zeref was obviously extremely intelligent, and his knowledge of magic was impressive by any standard. It would be such a waste to let all that talent suffocate under the weight of despair and self loathing.

Besides... Natsu liked seeing the other boy happy. He liked seeing the mixture of surprise and hope that flickered across Zeref's face when he realized that Natsu's idea would, in fact, work. It was bizarre sometimes how the littlest things Natsu did or said could affect his mood the way they did, but... it was kind of nice too.

Huh, he was getting rather attached to this human, wasn't he?

Natsu shook his head and made his way back through the streets. He remembered passing several delicious smelling restaurants on his way to the post office, and he was starving. The hills hadn't provided much in the way of wild game, and the guards had only thought to pack so much food. Natsu was going to buy everything on the menu of every decent restaurant on route back to the inn! And then he and Zeref were going to share the biggest meal they'd had since leaving the woods.

They could think about procuring provisions for the next part of their trip after they had eaten.

.

"Natsu... what happened to the flowers?"

"You mean the dead ones?"

"Those and... the ones in the vase right now. I can't help but notice that they seem to be made of paper."

Natsu set the last box of takeout on the table before glancing at the flowers in question.

"Yeah, really realistic, right? I saw them in an arts and crafts store on my way back. I figured we could use them. I told you, I can tell when you're having trouble with your magic."

So he'd gotten fake flowers to replace the real, withered ones.

Zeref moved away from the bathroom and sat down opposite his companion across the coffee table, still looking at the flowers. He didn't know if that was funny or depressing.

"If you have a choice, choose funny," Natsu told him, sticking his fork into a piece of fish drenched in a clear amber sauce. "We can replace them with real flowers before we leave. No one will notice."

Zeref wasn't so sure about that. He had noticed, after all, and he was fairly certain that Natsu would notice too. But... perhaps if no one said anything, it wouldn't matter." And looking at paper flowers beat looking at dead flowers any day.

Carefully, Zeref picked up his own fork and looked into the nearest takeout box.

"Is this... chocolate cake?"

Natsu grinned. "Chocolate cake seems really popular around here. I got three, one from each restaurant I stopped at."

Zeref shook his head. "I can't remember the last time I ate cake."

"It's the chocolate part that really interests me," Natsu said. "Eating chocolate's not all that great as a dragon. People just don't sell it in large enough quantities for it to be satisfying."

"You bought food as a dragon?"

"Nope. Anyway, I'd have had to raid a chocolate factory to get enough chocolate for a proper dessert."

Zeref shook his head, bemused. He wondered what people would think of a dragon raiding a chocolate factory.

Shifting the chocolate cake to the side, Zeref peered into another takeout box. He couldn't really tell what the contents were—some kind of tofu dish, maybe—but at least he knew it wasn't dessert.

"It will take us all afternoon to finish this food."

Natsu chuckled. "That's the idea. We'll be on the road again in a day or two, and then it'll be mostly barbequed fish. Besides, we have time."

And it was strange for Zeref to realize that yes, they did have time, and that having time was actually a good thing—at least in this small way.

He really was growing tired of barbeque though.

"Maybe we should buy some spices tomorrow when we go for supplies," he said aloud after tasting some of the tofu-something. Given its pale color, he had expected it to be bland, but it wasn't.

"Like what?" Natsu asked, interested.

Zeref looked away. He had no idea. It had been a long time since he had paid any attention to what he actually ate, let alone what any of it tasted like. It had been a long time since he had actually _wanted_ to eat.

"Well," he said after some thought, "I suppose salt is always a good start. And perhaps we should get a cookbook too."

.

Amika pushed her chestnut bangs out of her eyes and frowned into her tea. She'd brewed the tea for herself—to calm her nerves.

The man from Aulia had regained consciousness earlier that day, and his words had bothered her.

"The knights have her," Daniel announced, stepping through the door of the guard station's modest kitchen. There were dark circles under his eyes, but his smile was easy with relief. "Some of the knights are taking her and the other two dark wizards away now. She's on her way to a wizard prison as we speak."

"That's good," the healer murmured.

Daniel frowned at her. "You don't sound very happy."

She sighed. "My patient woke up. He said something very strange."

"Yeah?"

Daniel retrieved a mug from the cupboard and poured himself some tea from her teapot. Evening had already crept over the sky outside and he hadn't eaten anything since breakfast, but he wasn't hungry. He found the Rune Knights intimidating at the best of times, and nerves had pretty much killed his appetite. It didn't help that the remaining knights had made camp next to the guard station and wouldn't be departing until tomorrow noon.

Amika swirled the dark fragments of tea leaf around the bottom of her own cup.

"He said... that he saw a monster in the room beneath the garden, like a woman so old he thought he was looking at a living skeleton."

Daniel shuddered at the thought. "You don't think there was another wizard involved, do you? I mean, the dark wizard we caught was definitely a young woman."

"I don't know. I just don't know."

Amika shut her eyes and downed the rest of her tea in one gulp.

* * *

 **TBC...**

* * *

 **AN:** I really like the atmosphere in this chapter. Most of the events before this were meant to set things up a bit.

Thanks for reading and reviewing.

Oh, and sorry about the large number of OCs in part one. They kind of come with the choice of time period. I debated using ancestors or relatives for the present-time characters, but decided that it felt too limiting.

 **.**


	8. Rumors

**Disclaimer** : I do not own Fairy Tail.

 **Pairing(s)** : eventually Natsu Dragneal x Zeref

 **WARNINGS: violence, alternative history,** **shounan ai (boy/boy pairing); you have been warned so don't like, don't read**

* * *

 **The Will to Live**

 **By V. Shalyr**

* * *

 **8\. Rumors**

"What is this?" Edrik asked coldly from the top step of the guard house. The door swung shut behind him with a squeak, cutting off the banter from the local guardsmen stationed inside.

"News, sir," one of his men said, clearing his throat. The tall, lanky knight pushed a mousy little man ahead of him to stand before his team captain.

Captain Edrik of the Rune Knights looked down his slightly crooked nose at the cringing bandit, his own lips twisted in thinly concealed disgust. They had rounded up the whole group of bandits just that morning only to discover that their actual targets—the two dark wizards among them—had already been captured by a Dragon Slayer. It had also been a Dragon Slayer and his companion who had cornered the witch in the farming village. Chances were high that it was the same man. Edrik wasn't sure how he felt about that. He'd never particularly liked Dragon Slayers, although he had to admit that they were important. All the ones he'd met had been far too bloodthirsty.

"And what kind of news do you have that you think we could possibly want?"

The little man cringed, but the eyes that peered up at Captain Edrik through his bushy, gray eyebrows were clear.

"I heard you were looking for a wizard. A dark wizard who can make demons."

Edrik scowled. So someone had been gossiping. That someone had better hope Edrik never found out who.

"Get on with it."

The bandit flinched. "I—I saw someone do something strange with a spell. He gestured at a wagon, and it grew legs and walked over to him. Strangest sight I ever saw. Could that be the wizard you're interested in?"

Edrik's own gaze narrowed. The bandit did not appear to be lying.

Making up his mind, Edrik waved at the knight who stood waiting behind the bandit.

"Bring him to our camp. I will hear what else he has to say."

.

Zeref woke when the mattress creaked and Natsu got off the other side of the bed. The room they were renting only had the one bed. When Zeref had pointed this out the night before, Natsu had shrugged and replied that it was the only room available which had unoccupied rooms all around it. He'd then offered to sleep on the couch if Zeref preferred, to which the wizard had shaken his head. The bed was plenty big enough for two people, and technically, Natsu was the one paying for all of this. It didn't seem fair of him to usurp the mattress.

All the same, it had taken the dark-haired wizard forever to fall asleep, worrying about whether or not the person on the other side of the bed would still be breathing when he woke up. His magic was quiet when he was asleep or unconscious, but there was always the moments just after waking to consider. It helped to know that Natsu really _could_ sense when Zeref's magic was going to act up, but still... A hundred years of habit were hard to break.

Zeref let out a soft sigh and slid off the bed before beginning to straighten the covers. Judging from the pale light seeping in from under the window curtains, dawn had not broken so long ago. Still, the marketplace should be open soon, and the sooner they collected the necessary supplies, the sooner they could be on their way. No matter what Natsu said, this arrangement had to be costing an outrageous amount of money, and they still had a long way to travel.

Although, Zeref thought, listening to the water turn on in the bathroom. Traveling like this was... really kind of nice. Maybe it was okay to let himself enjoy it.

.

"A long trip, huh?" The baker shook his head while he carefully wrapped the dense honey bread they had purchased in thick, waxed paper. "In that case, this bread should do well in keeping your energy levels up. It shouldn't spoil too quickly either. I'd also recommend the fruit and nut bars that Miss May sells next door. I can't say I'd want to be out on the roads these days myself."

"Why? Are there river pirates or something?" Natsu asked, thinking about the bandits back in the forest.

The baker laughed. "River pirates? No, not anymore. Don't know if that's a curse or a blessing, all considered."

"I would imagine that that's a blessing," Zeref said, carefully stowing the honey bread in his travel bag.

"Normally, yes," the man agreed, counting out their change and sliding the coins across the counter. "But you have to ask yourself why the pirates have disappeared."

Natsu raised an eyebrow at that. "As in you don't know why there aren't as many pirates?"

"Well," the baker drawled, his expression sobering, "it's hard to say. There are rumors, but... I'll tell you what I know for sure. We felt a tremor run through the earth here about a year or so ago. Not quite a full blown earthquake, but enough to shake people up and knock a few pictures off the walls. The wind blew dust over us for days—a real nuisance. Got into the drinking water and spoiled a lot of my flour. It was shortly after that that encounters with river pirates began to decrease drastically."

The baker frowned, drumming his fingers on the countertop. "I don't know if I should tell you this seeing as you're about to travel that way, but think of it as a reason to be cautious. See, in the last few months, the traders and fishermen around here have come across... occasional wreckages. Empty ships that have been smashed up. Sometimes, they find bloodstains, but they only ever found a corpse once... or at least a part of a corpse. It looked like the man had been bitten clean in half."

Zeref felt a chill run down his spine. He knew what that sounded like, although he hesitated to draw any conclusions just based on the baker's words. He glanced sideways at Natsu, but the dragon wizard's face had gone blank. Was he thinking what Zeref was thinking? The Black Wizard thought that the answer to that was probably yes.

Natsu was unusually quiet while they made the rest of their purchases. Worry for him overrode Zeref's own discomfort with being out in public, and the dark-haired wizard suggested they stop for brunch at a restaurant near the docks. It was too early for there to be many customers, and they were able to secure a table in the corner by the window. The air smelled strongly of river water and fish, but the lighting was good and the seats were comfortable enough.

Zeref waited until the waitress had left with their orders before asking, "Are you all right?"

"Huh?" Natsu focused his gaze on him. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just thinking about what that guy said."

Zeref nodded, looking down at the ice cubes in his water glass. "The owner of the curio shop said that he'd heard of dragon attacks in the area. Do you think it's related?"

Natsu took a drink from his own glass of water before answering, melting all the ice cubes while he was at it just for fun. "Yeah, I think so. It sounds like a dragon attack anyway, but not just your normal hunt for prey."

"I do not understand."

Natsu sighed and pushed his water cup away from him. He caught Zeref's gaze and held it.

"The empty ships, the missing people and the blood and the corpse they found—those sorts of things all happening mean a dragon is hunting here regularly. It means that this area has become part of his territory. He wasn't just dropping by for a single meal because he was hungry and passing through."

"Part of his territory?" Zeref repeated, still not understanding.

"We aren't supposed to claim territory this close to human settlements," Natsu said, his eyes going hard. "It was the rule after the Civil War. You can't have a whole bunch of human settlements on your hunting grounds, and any settlements there are have to be on the boundaries because hunting humans specifically is no longer allowed. It's different if it's just the occasional meal when you're hungry and have no choice or people attack you. All creatures have a right to fight for survival after all. But if a dragon has claimed this area around the Glass River as his hunting ground, he's breaking dragon law and needs to be dealt with."

"I see." Zeref wasn't sure what else to say. Dragon customs were, for the most part, foreign to him.

"It's the kind of thing that gives dragons a bad reputation," Natsu continued, scowling.

When his order of steak arrived, he tore into it with a ferocity that the meat certainly didn't deserve.

"And it's annoying too because there are so few of us to begin with."

"When you say dealt with," Zeref said slowly, "do you mean... that he or she is killed?"

"That depends. Technically, you can swear to change your ways. But you know, most of the bad ones never do. And so someone has to kill them to stop them from causing more damage. These days, it's either a Dragon Slayer or one of us."

"Us?"

"Dad or me. One of us."

Zeref looked back at the contents of his own plate. He couldn't actually remember what he had ordered, but it looked like some kind of pasta with slices of mushroom and chicken. "I wonder if the town has sent for a Dragon Slayer yet."

"Don't know. Either way, I'll have to check it out."

"Does it... bother you?" Zeref asked hesitantly. This was obviously a serious matter. If he had been in Natsu's shoes, his own feelings on the situation would have been extremely complicated.

Natsu sat back in his chair with a sigh. "No, not in the way you're thinking."

Zeref glanced back up at him, startled.

Natsu gave him a crooked smile, the first sign of amusement that had crossed his face since leaving the bakery.

"You're forgetting that I'm not human. Fights over territory between dragons happen all the time, and it's not that unusual for a dragon to kill another dragon. It doesn't make me _happy_ , but it doesn't really bother me much either."

The mirth faded from his expression and Natsu continued, "What really annoys the hell out of me is that dragons like the one that's probably living upriver make it that much harder for the rest of us to live peacefully with humans. Getting rid of them doesn't reverse the damage they've caused. It always makes me wonder if that's why Dad thinks we can't keep living the way we do."

"Did he say that?"

"Yeah, but I just don't get what he means. It's like he expects us all to eventually die out or something. Or possibly for us to find somewhere entirely new to live or just live as humans in the future."

Natsu shifted restlessly in his chair, a slight scowl darkening his features. The waitress who had stopped by to refill their cups gave him a nervous look and then glanced at the steam rising from Natsu's water glass. The liquid in the glass was practically boiling.

"Beg your pardon," she squeaked, almost spilling the water in her pitcher in her rush to move on to the restaurant's other table of customers.

 _To change the way they lived_...

Zeref looked back down at his food, still mostly uneaten. Natsu obviously found the subject troubling, which was perfectly understandable. Zeref wasn't sure what the dragon Igneal had in mind either when he said such things, but it couldn't be easy to change an entire species' way of life. Especially not a species that had ruled this land for so long.

In other respects though, Zeref could understand why the Fire Dragon King was thinking about all this. The world was changing, and sometimes that meant you had to change too in order to survive. The dragon probably saw learning about humans as a part of that.

"Your father sounds like a wise soul," Zeref said, thinking aloud.

"Don't know. Maybe he is. But I wonder why it can't be enough to make sure we're all living peacefully right now. I mean, what was the point of fighting the war then?"

The Black Wizard wasn't sure what to say to that. Just living in the present was hard enough for him at the moment without trying to imagine the future.

"I'm not sure what the point is of fighting any war," Zeref said finally. "Real change takes time, and it doesn't happen because a few people demand that it be so. Of course, if no one made such demands, nothing would ever be accomplished. Some people need to think about the bigger picture, people like your father especially who are highly influential. But for the rest of us, I think... that perhaps it is enough to focus on the here and now. After all, if we can't even make peace with the people around us right now, there would be no point in trying to discuss the future."

The corner of Natsu's mouth quirked upward. "You know, you sound like a philosopher."

Zeref sighed and glanced out at the docks, which were becoming more and more crowded. "I've had a lot of time to think."

Too much time really.

"I suppose I was trying to say that you shouldn't let what your father said bother you. I'm sure you'll understand what he means someday, and in the mean time, it's enough to focus on the present and do what you can. After all, were you not the one who told me I shouldn't worry so much about the future?"

"I guess I was." There was a definite gleam of amusement in Natsu's eyes when he continued, "Honestly though, it's really just the fact that there's a dragon giving all us dragons a bad name that's getting on my nerves. But thanks for listening to all the rest of it. It's been on my mind a lot lately."

Zeref nodded, glad that his companion's mood appeared to have improved. There was just one problem now, and that was the fact that this restaurant seemed to be under the impression that everybody ate like Dragon Slayers. If Zeref forced himself to eat everything on his plate, he was going to be sick.

"Natsu, I don't suppose you could help me finish this pasta?"

Natsu grinned. "No problem. You only have to ask."

.

Their last stop before returning to the inn was a used books store whose front windows looked out upon the river. The selection wouldn't be as complete as that offered by a store that carried new books, but the prices would be dramatically lower. When they asked the shopkeeper about cookbooks, she directed them to a set of shelves near the back beside a bulletin board covered with restaurant advertisements.

"What about this one?" Zeref asked, pulling a thin volume from the shelf and passing it to Natsu. "It's all about fish. You did say we'd be eating a lot of fish... Or maybe this one?"

He chose another book and leafed through its pages. "This one claims to have easy recipes..."

"The food looks good enough in the pictures, but I suppose that just means the artist did a good job," Natsu said, flipping through the first volume. "I have no idea how easy any of this is though. There's a lot of writing, which makes me think it's going to be complicated."

Zeref glanced over at him, hesitated, then asked, "Natsu, can you read human writing?"

The dragon looked away, but answered after a second, "Some. Mostly food items. Restaurant menus. I can tell what a lot of these ingredients are, but the instructions might as well be a foreign language."

"Do you... want to learn?"

Natsu's gaze slid back to meet his. "Are you offering?"

"If you're interested, then yes."

The dragon considered this. "Well, since I'm going to be among humans for awhile, I suppose it would be useful."

Zeref nodded, and once they had settled upon a cookbook which declared that it was a busy traveler's best friend, he went in search of a book with simpler text. The store's collection of storybooks was limited, but he eventually found a book of short fairytales that had the added bonus of having the rather realistic image of a dragon pressed into its leather cover. He wasn't sure what Natsu would think of the stories, but hopefully, they wouldn't be too boring.

.

Edrik turned the charcoal sketch over in his gauntleted hands, careful not to crinkle the parchment. It was surprisingly good, and he admitted in the privacy of his own head that that surprised him. So the mousy little man wasn't as useless as he looked. The knights might be able to give the former bandit work as he had requested after all, if he was this accurate at sketching everything.

"Marley," the captain said, waving over his second in command. "You were with the team that encountered the Black Wizard last, correct? Led by Captain Lenzo?"

"Yes, sir."

"Is this him?"

Edrik held the sketch out to her.

Marley pushed her dark hair out of her eyes with the back of her gloved hand and held the parchment up to the fading sunlight. Edrik watched the color leave her face in a rush, making the freckles upon her cheeks more prominent.

"Yes, sir. I'm positive that it is." She hesitated, lowering the sketch to meet his gaze. "Is this... the person that that bandit wanted to tell us about?"

The captain nodded slowly, his lips thinned. He glanced across the hills towards the direction of the river. According to Captain Lenzo's report, his encounter with the Black Wizard had been interrupted by a strange but powerful Fire Wizard. The two dark wizards from the bandit gang had also been arrested by a Fire Wizard—or rather, a Fire Dragon Slayer. Could it possibly be the same person?

Marley appeared to be thinking along the same lines, because she asked, "Sir, did the bandit who drew this get a good look at the Dragon Slayer?"

"No. He was fighting, and all the flashy magic being thrown around got in the way."

"Oh." Marley looked back down at the sketch in her hands. "That's too bad. I thought maybe... It's really quite a coincidence, isn't it? But I suppose it's probably not the same person."

"Why do you say that?" Edrik asked sharply.

"We—well," she stuttered, startled. "I mean, the Black Wizard's Death Magic—I just don't see anyone risking it."

Hmmm, it was a logical assumption, Edrik supposed. Still...

"That may be, but we shouldn't rule it out," he said, turning his gaze back towards the hills across which the Dragon Slayer and his companion had departed. "Like you said yourself, it is an incredible coincidence. Tell me, is there any rule against putting out wanted posters?"

"For the Black Wizard, sir?"

"Naturally."

Marley's brow furrowed. "I suppose if we only write that he's a dangerous dark wizard, but refrain from mentioning any names or otherwise hinting at who he actually is, it shouldn't hurt to just put out a poster requesting information. It's mostly that we don't want unprepared people getting involved or Dark Guilds getting too interested."

The captain gave a brisk nod. "Send a request for permission to headquarters, and let me know as soon as they reply."

* * *

 **TBC...**

* * *

 **.**


	9. Blood in the Current

**Disclaimer** : I do not own Fairy Tail.

 **Pairing(s)** : eventually Natsu Dragneal x Zeref

 **WARNINGS: violence, alternative history,** **shounan ai (boy/boy pairing); you have been warned so don't like, don't read**

* * *

 **The Will to Live**

 **By V. Shalyr**

* * *

 **9\. Blood in the Current**

It was early morning and a thin mist hung over the water, softening all the colors and edges of the landscape. It was going to be a warm day, Natsu could sense it. But for now, the air was cool and sweet with the scent of flowing water and river reeds. The sun had risen scant hours before, and they were the only people on the road that ran parallel to the river along its southeastern shore. With only the sound of their own footsteps and voices, it felt like they had the entire riverbank to themselves.

Beside him, Zeref lifted a hand to stifle a yawn.

"You could have slept longer, you know," Natsu said. "We didn't have to return the room keys until noon."

The wizard let his hand fall back to his side and shook his head. "I'm all right, really. And I wanted to leave before the streets became too crowded."

"All right, but let me know if you need a break, okay?"

"I will."

Technically, neither of them had gotten much sleep the night before. Zeref had started teaching Natsu how to read, but then ended up reading half the book of fairytales aloud to him instead. The dragon had never heard any of the stories before, and Zeref would pause now and then to tell him alternative versions he had come across during his wanderings. They had eaten dinner in their room again, and overall had such a pleasant evening that neither of them had noticed the lateness of the hour. At the same time, although they had not slept much, both of them felt clear-headed and refreshed.

So despite the very real possibility of facing a dragon in the near future, they left Crinko in high—or at least decent—spirits.

"I still think it's ridiculous to think of a dragon kidnapping a princess," Natsu said, referring to the last story they had read the night before. "I mean, there isn't really any reason to believe she'd taste that much better than another human. Of course, since I wasn't brought up to think of humans as a food source and I've never eaten one before, I can't say for sure, but it doesn't take an expert to realize that a village would be way easier to catch prey in than a castle. A lot more to eat for a lot less trouble. And if a dragon did fly off with the princess of some kingdom, I doubt any knight would have the chance to rescue her. She'd probably have been eaten by the time he caught up with them."

"I suppose the writers thought that would be rather unromantic," Zeref said. "Fairytales aren't supposed to be realistic. I think that they say more about people's wishes and fears than anything."

"Wishes and fears, huh? I suppose being kidnapped by a dragon would fall under fears."

"Well, it probably wouldn't be a wish." Zeref tilted his head, his expression growing thoughtful. "Although as far as such stories go, I imagine that it's more about the hope that love really can conquer even an obstacle as great as a dragon."

Natsu snorted. "That's the other thing. Why are all the stories love stories?"

"That's a good question. Not all fairytales are love stories, but I do believe that a great majority of them are. I hadn't really thought about it before." Zeref was quiet for awhile, looking out across the river to their left, then he said, "Perhaps it's because deep down, humans want to be cared for and to have someone or something to care about. Feeling nothing is a kind of pain."

Sensing the dip in his companion's mood, Natsu changed the subject. "We dragons tell stories too, though they're mostly about things we've done or seen. Some of it's about sharing news, but a lot more of it's about boasting."

Zeref's brow furrowed. "Boasting?"

"Yeah, well, it's not like we have gatherings around a campfire and laugh over fantasies. I suppose we're more solitary than humans, and maybe more grounded in the here and now. The only time a lot of dragons gather in one place is for tournaments, which are all about showing off our strength."

"So stories about battles won and other such accomplishments?"

Natsu laughed. "Sometimes, but most of it's not nearly that serious. Like there was this one dragon who went on and on about this giant grizzly he'd fought and killed, and how he was able to carry it all the way back to his lair a league away without stopping to rest."

He caught the dubious expression on Zeref's face and grinned. "That probably sounds really silly to you, doesn't it?"

"Maybe a little," Zeref admitted. "But some humans do the same thing. I've never understood the desire to compare one's physical strength. There are so many more important things."

"You're probably right," Natsu said. "But I have to admit that I'm guilty of doing the same, so I can't really talk."

Zeref shook his head.

"Well, I suppose it's not entirely pointless in the kind of world we live in, although I am more easily impressed by a man's character than his strength. I have met plenty of very powerful individuals that I'd rather," he paused to think of a suitable comparison, since "rather die" meant so little from someone who had attempted on several occasions to take his own life. He finally settled for, "Rather drink poison than spend any time with."

"A man's character, huh?" Natsu glanced sidelong at him, studying his profile against the pale morning sky. "So what kind of man would impress you?"

Zeref gave the question serious consideration. He hadn't liked people very much in general for a long time, and he'd spent plenty of time trying to figure out why.

Of course, just because he had thought about it extensively didn't mean he had come up with a definitive answer.

"I don't know," he replied finally. "What I do know is that I despise hypocrisy, and I generally dislike criminals."

"Who doesn't?"

"Well, hypocrites and criminals, I would assume."

Natsu laughed heartily at that, and that brought a very small , answering smile to his companion's face. Natsu still hadn't heard the boy laugh yet, but he was confident that he'd get a laugh out of him sooner or later.

.

By noon, the sun had burned away all the mist and the sky was a cloudless expanse of blue reflected upon the river's surface. They stopped for a bite to eat down by the water's edge, and Natsu managed to spear several fish with his knife. They had just set the fish to roasting over an open fire when Natsu spotted the wagon making its slow and halting way along the road towards them headed for Crinko.

The wagon had no horse. Instead, several men and women were alternatively pushing and pulling it, beads of sweat rolling down their dusty faces and soaking into their clothes. The wagon itself was piled high with bags and boxes, amidst which sat an elderly woman holding onto a child of about nine or ten. Even as Natsu watched, the boy wrenched himself free of the old woman and leapt over the side of the wagon. He stumbled when he hit the ground, but immediately began to run back the way they had come, managing only two steps before one of the men grabbed his arm.

"Let me go!" he shouted, kicking at his captor's shins with his sandaled feet.

The man grimaced in pain, but didn't release him. "Don't go wasting their efforts, son."

"I am not your son!"

"Taka, please."

The wagon creaked to a halt and the old woman clambered down with the aid of some of her companions. She reached out to grasp the boy's shoulder in one thin hand. He started to shake her off, but then appeared to change his mind and glowered fiercely back at her.

"I'm going to save them, Grandma."

"Taka, you can't. They're probably already—already gone."

The old woman's voice broke on the last word and tears began to leak from the corners of her eyes, following the wrinkles down her face to her chin before dripping onto the front of her gray dress.

"Don't say that!" Taka shouted, his voice hoarse with fear and anger. "It's not true, it's not!"

Natsu glanced at Zeref, debating whether or not to approach the company. He was curious to know what was going on with them, but it looked like an emotional moment and he wasn't sure if it was impolite as an outsider to get involved. Then again... he smelled dragon, and that meant these people might have information that would prove useful.

Zeref said nothing, leaving it to Natsu to make the decision. Given the choice, the wizard was accustomed to simply avoiding everyone. Things were different at the moment because he was no longer wandering around alone, but just how they were different he hadn't yet decided.

Natsu looked back at the wagon. The handful of people gathered around it looked exhausted and sad, their faces haunted by sights they no doubt wished they hadn't seen. If nothing else, they looked like they could use a hot meal and a break, which meant the wizards wouldn't just be intruding on their grief.

Mind made up, Natsu made his way up from the riverbank with Zeref trailing on his heels.

"Hey, is everything okay here?" he asked, raising his voice so the weary group of travelers would hear him before he got too close.

Several of them jerked around as though half expecting an attack, and a dozen pairs of anxious, wary eyes were suddenly focused on the two newcomers.

"Okay enough," one man said gruffly, his face unhealthily pale behind his bristling beard and mustache. "Thanks for asking."

Taka started to speak, eyes flashing, but a look from his grandmother made him hold his tongue.

Natsu weighed his options. These people hadn't told them to mind their own business, but they also seemed wary of talking to a stranger. Which meant if he wanted information...

"My friend and I were just about to have lunch," he said, gesturing back towards their campfire. Natsu could already smell the roasting fish, but he wasn't sure if the humans could. "We don't mind sharing. You look like you could use something to eat."

The travelers stared at him, obviously wondering about his motives.

"I can't help but notice that your wagon's in bad shape," Natsu said, referring to the jagged chunks missing from one of its wooden sides. "If I'm not mistaken, those are claw marks. Really massive claw marks. I'm a Dragon Slayer, and I heard there was a dragon wreaking havoc in this area."

The entire group tensed at the mention of dragons.

Taka stood straight, gaze intent. "If you're a Dragon Slayer, could you—could you save my parents?"

"Taka—"

"No!" The child stamped his foot. "I'm not going to be quiet. I'm going to go back there. I'm going to save them."

Abruptly, his eyes watered, and he swiped at them with the sleeve of his tunic, leaving a smudge of dirt across his cheek.

The adults around him said nothing, shifting their weight awkwardly from foot to foot while they waited for someone among them to speak up.

The elderly grandmother let out a long, slow sigh and nodded to Natsu. "Thank you. If it's not too inconvenient, we will join you for lunch. We haven't eaten a proper meal in days."

.

Natsu waved away the travelers and pushed the wagon containing all their worldly possessions across the grass and over to a large tree closer to the water. The group watched wide-eyed, amazed that one young man could move that much luggage all by himself without even breaking a sweat. Once the wagon was safely out of the road, everyone gathered around Natsu and Zeref's campfire, and the dragon went to collect a few more fish.

Zeref took out one of the loaves of honey bread they had bought and broke it into several pieces, sharing them around the fire. They looked like they could use something sweet.

"You're brave to be traveling with a Dragon Slayer," the elderly grandmother said, peering at him from across the flames. "They do very dangerous work."

Zeref nodded. "I know, but I don't mind. I enjoy traveling with him."

It was only after the words had left his mouth that Zeref realized how true they were. Not that he had meant to lie. It was just that he hadn't really allowed himself to think about it.

"You two are close?" she asked.

"I don't know, but I do consider him a friend."

It felt strange to admit it out loud. It had been a long time since Zeref had been able to call anyone a friend. He hoped that Natsu wouldn't disagree with him.

The old woman nodded slowly and sighed. "I wish we'd met you two earlier. Then perhaps..."

"Could you tell us what happened?" Zeref asked.

She sighed again and looked at her grandson, who was glowering sullenly down at his piece of honey bread. The other adults busied themselves helping Natsu with the fish and gave the child his space.

"When we heard that a dragon was attacking ships on the river, we thought that it was just a rumor," she said, the words coming out tired and slow. "We come from a small fishing village upriver, although the place is little more than ruins now. The attack came so suddenly. Several families were killed almost right away, and the rest of us fled with what we could take."

Zeref frowned, glancing back towards the road. Did that mean there were other refugees on the way?

"Some of the others might have gotten away," the man with the mustache said, guessing at his thoughts. "But we're the only ones left who came this way. The beast's been picking us off—one, two at a time."

When he stopped, unable to continue, the old woman spoke up once more.

"Last night, we were attacked again. It—it went for the children. Little Lexy was killed instantly, but Taka managed to avoid its claws and run. He escaped under the wagon, and my son and his wife—"

"I shouldn't have run," Taka said suddenly, not looking up. "It's my fault. I shouldn't have run. I should have just let it take me. Then maybe Mom and Dad would have gotten away."

"Taka!" his grandmother chided. "Your parents wouldn't have wanted that. Losing you would have been worse than anything."

Taka didn't reply, but he lowered his head further, and Zeref saw small spots of dampness appearing on his clothes. The wizard looked away, the back of his own throat tight. He could imagine it all too clearly. There were few things in the world more powerful than a parent's love for a child. He had seen other parents make such sacrifices before, although sometimes in vain.

Oh no.

"Excuse me," Zeref said, rising quickly to his feet. "I'll be back in a minute."

Not waiting to give any further explanations—he honestly didn't have the time—he hurried away from the confused travelers. He couldn't let them see too much, and so he circled around the wagon beneath the tree and waded a little ways out into the water beyond with both tree and wagon between him and the campfire. The current rushed about his knees, but he barely noticed the freezing water, preoccupied with the black fog rapidly unraveling around his body. For a few achingly long seconds, he struggled to breathe normally and to calm his own emotions. Then, almost as abruptly as it had started, the magic settled and the last wisps of black mist dissipated like smoke on the breeze.

"You okay?"

Zeref jumped, startled by the sudden voice so close to him, and stumbled when the hungry current dragged at his feet. A hand grabbed his arm to steady him, and he looked up into Natsu's grim face.

"How long were you here?" Zeref asked, horrified.

"Long enough," the dragon said dismissively. "And I'm obviously fine, so stop freaking out."

Gradually, Zeref's heartbeat slowed down. He glanced back in the direction of the campfire, which he still couldn't see, and then up the river towards the misty blue smudge of mountains in the distance.

"I... don't suppose his parents could still be alive...?"

They had just been talking about dragons carrying people off that morning. Now, the whole issue was suddenly a great deal more serious. This was not a fairytale. It was real life with real hopes and real tragedies.

Natsu sighed. "It's not completely impossible, but I doubt it."

"I see."

Zeref let out a long breath and let his eyes close for a moment. Unlike the worn fabric of Taka's clothes, the river flowing around them would not give away his tears.

* * *

 **TBC...**

* * *

 **.**


	10. Lightning and Ash

**Disclaimer** : I do not own Fairy Tail.

 **Pairing(s)** : eventually Natsu Dragneal x Zeref

 **WARNINGS: violence, alternative history,** **shounan ai (boy/boy pairing); you have been warned so don't like, don't read**

* * *

 **The Will to Live**

 **By V. Shalyr**

* * *

 **10\. Lightning and Ash**

"I want to go with you."

Despite the late evening shadows, Natsu easily picked out the small figure of the child through the darkness. Taka stood between them and the road, his chin raised and a sheathed knife hanging at his side from a makeshift belt of rope.

The wizards had sort of expected this, which was why they were leaving now while the group of weary men and women slept. That, and Zeref had declared that there was no way he could sleep surrounded by so many people, so they might as well get the upcoming battle over with if Natsu wasn't tired.

It looked like they weren't going to be able to avoid this conversation though.

"That would be unwise," Zeref said quietly, not wanting to wake the adults.

"I don't care," Taka snapped. "That dragon took my parents. I have to go."

"No, you don't," Natsu snapped back.

Zeref had never heard the dragon speak so harshly.

"What good would it do for you to tag along?"

"I don't know, but there must be some way I can help!"

"How? Do you have any combat training? Do you know any magic? Have you ever even held a proper weapon before?"

Taka clenched his fists but said nothing.

"Then don't go throwing away your parents' sacrifice," Natsu said coldly. "If you come with us, you'll just get in the way. We can't spare the attention and energy to look after you. And if you get yourself killed like this doing something stupid, your parents would have sacrificed themselves for nothing."

The boy looked down at his feet. "But I... I can't just do nothing."

"You're not doing nothing," Natsu retorted, although his tone was less sharp. "You're surviving. You and everyone that's left from your village are going to make a new life for yourselves. Believe me, that's not an easy thing to do. And if your parents are still alive, we'll rescue them."

Zeref didn't speak until he and Natsu were far enough down the road that he was certain no one would overhear them.

"Is he following us?"

"No, he isn't."

"Do you think that was a little too severe?"

"Someone had to say it. People shouldn't go throwing their lives away for nothing, especially not when other people have gone through so much trouble to keep that life intact."

Zeref lowered his head. He could see the sense in that, but still... Certain memories were painful to live with. He suspected that saying so would anger his companion, however, so he kept this thought to himself.

.

The moon hung like a brilliant silver disk in the sky, its glow reflected in shimmering fragments upon the river's surface. Under other circumstances, it would have been a beautiful night.

"What should we be looking for?" Zeref asked, following Natsu off the road and away from the river.

"It depends," Natsu replied, pausing for a moment to study the landscape before continuing on. "If any of the people he's taken are still alive, they'd probably be at some kind of lair. We should look for any caves or large buildings. If he has any sense at all, he should already know we're here. If he attacks, can you protect yourself?"

"I believe so."

"Good. I've never fought another dragon in this shape before, so it might be harder for me to keep an eye on you. Uh, try not to get too close. I tend to get a little carried away during battle."

Zeref wondered what that was supposed to mean.

Natsu stopped again to examine the blackened remains of a shattered tree stump.

"I'd say we're probably dealing with a Lightning Dragon. The smell that lightning leaves behind is pretty distinctive."

The Black Wizard nodded, making a mental note of this. That was helpful to know if he did have to shield himself.

"Wherever he's staying, it shouldn't be too far from here," Natsu muttered under his breath.

"How do you know?"

"I've been following the scent of human blood since we left the road. A lot of it's fresh. And with how much he's been hunting, it wouldn't make sense to have to fly super far away to rest. That's doubly true if he's been harrying the villagers who escaped."

The scent of fresh blood. Zeref was glad he couldn't smell it. He took a deep breath, steeling himself for what they were probably going to see when they found what they were looking for. He had seen plenty of death over the years, and although all of it was bad, some ways of dying were more horrible than others.

Zeref wasn't sure exactly when he became aware of the silence. The grass beneath their sandals gave way to dirt and gravel, and the crunch of their footsteps falling into the stillness felt unnaturally loud. He could hear no insects, no calls from nocturnal birds, and even the whisper of the river had faded into the distance.

It was as though the whole world was waiting, or as though the greed of the beast who lived here had already driven away most of the life within these lands.

He had no sooner thought this then Natsu had grabbed his arm and yanked him to the right. Yellow lightning struck the earth where they had been, spraying dirt and gravel everywhere and leaving behind the tang of ozone. The second bolt of lightning smashed into a magic circle that appeared in the air before them and fizzled out.

"Nice one," Natsu said, then raised his voice and shouted. "Hey, is that your answer?"

The voice that answered him had boulders in it. "My answer? That depends on the question."

Looking towards the speaker, Zeref could just make out something huge rising up against the night sky. The shadow resolved itself into the shape of a serpentine neck and outspread wings as the dragon hissed at them. Zeref couldn't make out the color of its scales, but its eyes gleamed like burnished copper even through the darkness.

"Two more humans for dinner it seems. How convenient of you to show up just as I was about to eat."

Natsu snorted. "Something's wrong with your nose. Or has pigging out on people dulled your senses?"

"What?" The dragon narrowed its copper eyes and sniffed. "A Dragon Slayer?"

"Wrong." Natsu summoned two fistfuls of fire and glared up at the other dragon. "You know hunting humans like this isn't allowed anymore."

"That power," the dragon hissed, rearing back. "So you're Igneal's son. You think you can kill me? And in the guise of a weak human, no less. What an insult! I'll kill you first for invading my territory and stealing my prey."

It's head darted forward, jaws snapping. Natsu jumped to avoid it and immediately went for the back of its neck with a blade-like arc of flames that burned so intensely that it was like looking at a piece of the sun. The dragon twisted away from the attack, roaring, yellow lightning crackling between its teeth.

Zeref took a step back, one hand half raised, but neither dragon paid him any attention. Briefly, he thought about helping, but he was afraid that he would only get in the way. That, or get stepped on by the giant beast, which wouldn't have been much better. Besides, in the light from the fire and lightning, Zeref had seen a rectangular silhouette not much further ahead that looked like it could be the remains of a large, stone building. If anyone was still alive, that seemed like a promising place to search.

Trying not to imagine what he might find inside, Zeref hurried towards the stone structure, skirting around the battle. Small explosions tore the night air every time a bolt of lightning struck dirt, and the entire ground shook when a particularly vicious attack from Natsu sent his opponent crashing back.

It was the first time Zeref had ever seen a battle between a dragon and a Dragon Slayer, and it was hard to look away. As far as impressive fights went, you didn't get much more impressive than this.

The building had no roof, and the stones that made up its walls were charred and cracked in places. It had no door either, just a gaping hole where the door had once stood. Zeref picked his way carefully over the churned up earth and peered over the threshold.

The stench of blood and decay hit him hard, and he lifted a sleeve to cover his nose. The first thing he saw made his heart sink and his stomach turn over. In one corner near the door, there was a pile of bones—human bones, he was almost certain—stained here and there with something dark that was probably dried blood. From amidst the pile, a skull stared back at him, its crushed dome making its perpetual, frozen grin that much more disturbing. Staring back at it, Zeref wondered if there was any point in searching further.

"Is—is someone there?"

The question coming out of the darkness within the building was so unexpected that Zeref almost jerked away from the entryway. The voice sounded like a woman's.

"Where are you?" he asked, searching the shadows along the walls.

"We're over here."

We? He thought, astonished.

A clump of something near the far wall that he had assumed was debris from the caved-in roof shifted. Careful not to step on anything that might turn out to be extremely unpleasant, Zeref made his way towards what turned out to be a woman with her right arm wrapped around a small girl. Her left arm was missing from the elbow down, and someone had tied a rag tightly around the stump to prevent further blood loss.

"What are you doing here?" the woman asked, her face a pale shadow against the darker shadows around her. "What's going on outside?"

The ground shook and the girl shrank closer to the woman's side.

"I'm here with my friend," Zeref said, then glanced at the shivering girl and added—in case it helped, "We're here to rescue you."

"There's only two of you?" the woman asked doubtfully.

"I'm a wizard," Zeref explained, "and my friend is a Dragon Slayer."

"Oh."

Lines of tension that he had not noticed before smoothed away from her features, and he realized that she hadn't been allowing herself to hope for rescue until that moment.

"Is there only the two of you?" Zeref asked, although in truth, it surprised him that there was even one living person in here.

The woman smiled, although there was no real humor in it. "I believe we were going to be dinner. He only just brought Jill here this afternoon."

A massive explosion of flames outside momentarily turned the night to day, accompanied by a blistering wave of hot air. For that split second, Zeref got his first clear look at the woman's face. Despite the dirt and the bruises, there was something strangely familiar about it—about the angle of her cheekbones and the steadiness of her stare.

"Are you... Taka's mother by any chance?" he asked.

The light faded, and in the moments that followed, he could see nothing at all.

The woman didn't answer right away. When she did speak, it was guarded. "I do have a son by that name."

"Is your husband...?"

"He's dead," she said flatly.

Right. Of course.

"We met your son and his grandmother," Zeref said. "They were on their way to Crinko."

Out of the darkness came a long, deep sigh.

"I'm glad."

.

Natsu dodged the swipe of the other dragon's claws then leapt when its tail lashed towards his feet. Fighting in the shape of a human definitely took some getting used to. But he was starting to get the hang of it. Although humans couldn't really fight with teeth or claws—not against an opponent as large and well armored as a dragon—it was possible for Natsu to move with far more agility.

The difficulty lay in finding the opportunity to deliver the finishing blow.

He countered a ball of lightning with a blast of fire, then aimed a follow-up attack at the green dragon's eyes. It drew its head back and brought a wing forward to shield itself, then retaliated with another bolt of lightning.

Natsu grinned. It must have been awhile since this dragon had fought another dragon. That, or it was underestimating him because he currently wore the form of a human. Every time the creature released its lightning, it always lifted its head up and back, exposing the underside of its jaws. Sure, for a normal human, the spot would have been too high up to reach, and anyway, even the thin scales that covered the area would have been enough to repel most human spells. But Natsu wasn't a human wizard.

The dragon swung its tail around towards him once more, and Natsu jumped, planting one foot on the scaly hide and using the momentum to propel himself back several paces to land on a patch of relatively clear ground. This put him far enough away from the dragon's own body to give it a nice, clear shot at him, and sure enough, it took the bait. It reared back, its mouth open in a snarl of frustrated rage that crackled as it gathered its lightning—and Natsu struck.

Flames, concentrated and intense, tore through the layer of thin scales along the underside of the dragon's jaw then back down across its throat and along the side of its neck. Vivid red blood gushed from the wound, and the air filled with the stench of burning flesh.

.

The thunder of something gigantic collapsing to the ground was unmistakable, as was the anguished, half choked roar of a dying beast.

The three humans in the broken building held stock still, listening. When no other sounds of combat reached them, they very cautiously started towards the gap in the wall. Taka's mother wavered a little, unsteady on her feet, but Jill stayed at her side, steadying her and helping her walk.

A few trees were still burning, the flames casting a dull orange light that felt more threatening than warm under the circumstances. By their glow, the humans could make out the body of the dragon sprawled upon the ground. Light gleamed off a pool of blood about its head and neck. The entire underside of its mouth and throat had been ripped open.

Taka's mother averted her gaze from the carnage and Jill began to cry, all the stress of the day catching up to her.

The girl's tears turned into a small scream when something rose from the other side of the dead dragon's head and started towards them. Zeref couldn't blame her. If he hadn't known it was Natsu, he would have been inclined to feel startled himself.

The wild-haired wizard was drenched in blood. There was so much of it that it dripped from his clothes. It didn't help that the pupils of his eyes had narrowed to thin slits like those of the dragon he had just slain, and his lime green irises were touched with red.

"None of the blood's mine," the Fire Wizard said, attempting to reassure them.

The two women did not appear to be reassured.

Natsu didn't bother saying more to them. Hell, he'd just gotten out of a battle. What did they expect? Instead, he turned to Zeref.

"So it's just these two?"

The boy nodded and gestured at the older of the two women. "This is Taka's mother."

"Nice to meet you," Natsu said, addressing her. "I'm sure Taka will be happy to see you. You should get someone to look at your arm as soon as possible. It smells infected."

"I will, thank you."

"You familiar with this area?" Natsu asked. "We could escort you back to your family."

"That will not be necessary," she said. "I know where we are. I've lived around here all my life. And Jill will come with me. When we reach Crinko, we can see about contacting her remaining relatives."

"Well, if you're sure."

The two women said that yes, they were sure, and left after several more words of thanks.

Natsu watched them beat a hasty retreat towards the main river road, making sure they were headed in the right direction, then grumbled, "That's gratitude for you. Hardly stayed long enough to get out their thank you."

"They are grateful," Zeref said. "But they're also frightened."

"But I wasn't the one who attacked them or tried to eat them."

Zeref nodded. "That may be true, but they cannot help but imagine the terror of having such power turned against them."

He'd learned that lesson all too well, and despite his best efforts, it often left a bitter taste in his mouth.

Natsu sighed then shrugged. "Oh well, it doesn't really matter."

"It doesn't?"

"Nope. It's not like they're important to me. It's annoying, sure, but at the end of the day, I really don't care what they think."

It was Zeref's turn to sigh. "I wish it were that easy not to care."

He couldn't quite decipher the look that Natsu shot him. It seemed caught somewhere between fondness and amusement.

"Caring isn't a bad thing. I mean, you just don't want people to be scared of you or think you're a terrible person. That's not unreasonable. You've just got to draw the line somewhere."

"I suppose." Zeref turned back to the dead dragon and frowned. It had not been a considerate or self disciplined creature, and it had wreaked havoc on both the local environment and the inhabitants. But all the same, seeing it like this was a little depressing. "It feels wrong just to leave it like this."

"Yeah," Natsu said. "Give me a second."

When they, too, began to make their way back towards the river, they left behind them a blazing fire so immense that even Taka and his grandmother saw its glow on the horizon. The flames burned with unnatural intensity, devouring both magic and flesh, eating through layers of heavy scales and bone, and leaving behind nothing but ash.

* * *

 **TBC...**

* * *

 **.**


	11. Of Laundry Spells and Dreams

**Disclaimer** : I do not own Fairy Tail.

 **Pairing(s)** : eventually Natsu Dragneal x Zeref

 **WARNINGS: violence, alternative history,** **shounan ai (boy/boy pairing); you have been warned so don't like, don't read**

* * *

 **The Will to Live**

 **By V. Shalyr**

* * *

 **11\. Of Laundry Spells and Dreams**

"I'd better wash off all this blood before we move on. These clothes will probably never be the same though."

"I might be able to help with that," Zeref said, inspecting his companion's bloodstained vest and leggings.

"Yeah?" Natsu raised his eyebrows.

"I have a spell for it," Zeref explained, which earned him a slightly dubious look.

"You have a spell for doing laundry?"

Zeref was puzzled. "Is that strange? Clothes need washing sooner or later, and it saves me the bother of carrying multiple garments."

"That's true," Natsu said, scratching the back of his head only to grimace at the stickiness of the blood drying in his hair. "It's just funny that you've got magic for something so mundane."

Zeref didn't see anything funny about it. It was perfectly practical. And anyway, Natsu's clothes certainly looked like nothing short of magic would be able to clean them.

They chose a spot on the riverbank with a grove of trees that would hide them from anyone passing on the road—although at this time of night, that was hardly a concern. Natsu peeled off his bloody garments and waded into the cold water while his companion set about sketching several rows of runes in the air around his discarded clothes, creating a rectangular space around them formed of countless little glowing marks. By the time the dragon swam back to shore, even the smell of blood had been erased from the fabric.

"This is amazing," Natsu said, inspecting his now spotless garments before putting them back on. "They look almost new."

"That was the idea," Zeref said.

Natsu swore he detected a trace of amusement in the wizard's voice. But hey, Natsu had seen plenty of spells meant for blowing things up, creating illusions, and even healing wounds. This was the first time he had ever seen magic used as a stain remover.

"How long do you think the fire will keep burning?" Zeref asked quietly.

The grin faded from Natsu's face, and he glanced back the way they had come, the glow muted to a dull, reddish orange by distance. The sense of triumph he felt in the wake of winning a battle had long since faded, leaving behind only the solemn knowledge that he had done what had to be done. The humans around here would no longer have to live in fear of being preyed upon, but on the other hand, there was now one less dragon in the world. Perhaps it was inevitable. Wicked and greedy dragons could do so much more damage than an average human dark wizard. Maybe his father was right and the time of dragons really was coming to an end, but what did that mean for Natsu and the other good dragons?

"Hard to say," he said in response to his companion's question. "Probably not until some time tomorrow."

"People are going to notice."

Natsu shrugged at that. "Yeah, but that can't be helped. And they'll have to find out that the dragon's gone sooner or later."

Slowly, Zeref nodded.

"Problem?" Natsu asked, frowning.

"It just seems sad, how easily lives can end."

"That's why we have to fight for the time we have," Natsu pointed out. "And as long as we have time, we should enjoy it so it doesn't go to waste."

"Is it really that simple?" Zeref wondered aloud. "Who decides what is wasted time? How do you know if you are making the most of what you have?"

Natsu shook his head. "I don't think anyone could answer those questions for you. But I do know that spending your life thinking about dying is not a good use of your time."

"When you spend half your time watching things die, it is hard to think of anything else."

"Fair enough. But you know, when you aren't that depressed, your magic is quieter and fewer things end up dying in the first place."

Zeref blinked and focused his gaze on him. "Is that true?"

"Yeah, I wasn't sure if you'd noticed. It's like how you know that when you're calm and not thinking about anything too serious, you don't have to worry as much about your curse acting up. I realize that it's not a long-term solution, but it doesn't hurt to give it a try, right?"

"Give what a try exactly?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Natsu reached out to ruffle his hair and grinned at the startled confusion that crossed his face. On Zeref, he found it an adorable expression. "Being happy."

.

Being happy?

It should not have been a novel idea, but it was. When Zeref had still been wandering the kingdom on his own, it would have been an impossible demand to make of himself. But now... Contemplating it now, it didn't seem like such a total impossibility.

He glanced at Natsu, glad to note that the dragon didn't seem tense anymore. There had been an odd sort of tension about him since the battle, but after their brief stop at the riverside, it had gone away. Perhaps it was because he no longer reeked of blood. Zeref certainly found that a relief himself.

Zeref's nervous energy from the past several hours was finally beginning to wear off, and it left him feeling tired and a little lethargic. Neither of them wanted to linger too close to the site of the battle, however, and so they didn't pause again to rest until well past dawn.

They found a place where a particularly large, flat boulder protruded out over the river and sat on its edge, letting the current wash over their bare feet. Natsu eyed the fish that swam past hungrily, and Zeref didn't have to be a seer to foresee that there was a large amount of barbequed fish in their future.

Sure enough, they'd been resting for hardly more than twenty minutes when Natsu waded in to begin his assault on the local fish population. Zeref used the time to take a short nap with his travel bag as a pillow, waking some time later to the smell of cooking fish. Without having to be asked, Zeref sat up and began rummaging through his pack for the salt and pepper.

Judging from the crispy, steaming pile Natsu had set on a clean patch of stone, the fish in the river had had a hard time.

"Let me know if you want any more," Natsu said, digging into the barbequed fish with gusto. "I only caught about twelve."

"Twelve sounds like plenty to me," Zeref replied. "Considering their size, I doubt I could eat even one by myself."

Natsu barely paused between bites to answer. "Just eat your fill and I'll finish what's left."

Neither of them spoke again until there was nothing left of the fish but a scattering of bones and scales that the river's current hadn't carried away.

"Any idea when we'll reach the next town?"

Zeref took out their map to check. "Not until tomorrow noon at the earliest. Should we go around it?"

Natsu shrugged. "Don't know. We don't really need anything, so we could just go around. No point making up our minds until we get there though."

"That's true." Zeref yawned and added, "If you don't mind, I think I'd like to sleep some more."

"Of course I don't mind. I should probably take a nap myself."

But after they'd made themselves comfortable on the grassy slope that led from the water's edge up to the road, neither of them could actually sleep. Instead, they lay awake listening to the rush of the current and watching the occasional bird fly by. Zeref knew that Natsu missed being able to fly. He wondered if seeing the birds reminded the dragon of that. It probably did. It had to be a huge adjustment, going from being able to fly over entire mountain ranges to having to walk everywhere on foot, but he never heard Natsu complain about the loss.

Perhaps that was just part of making the best of what you currently had.

"Hey," Natsu said suddenly, his voice drifting over the short span of grass between them. "If you didn't have to keep moving around, where would you want to live? I mean, what would you want the place to be like?"

"Aside from a place with very few people in it?"

Natsu snorted, but replied, "Yeah, aside from that."

Zeref considered the question, closing his eyes and trying to picture an answer. He'd passed through so many places on his wanderings. This really shouldn't be that tough, except that it had been such a long time since he had allowed himself to dream.

"Well," he started cautiously, "I suppose perhaps somewhere in the mountains. It's quieter in the mountains. Somewhere high with a clear view of the horizon. A spring or stream would be quite important as a source of fresh water, and some fruit trees would be convenient..."

Natsu chuckled. "So practical. Would you want to live in a house?"

"I don't know. Maybe if it was well camouflaged."

"I guess it's hard to stop thinking that way, huh?"

"Sorry."

Again with the pointless apologies," Natsu sighed, exasperated.

Zeref opened his mouth to apologize again but managed to stop himself before the word could escape him. Instead, he asked, "What about you? Do you already have a territory? Is it okay for you to be away this long?"

"Nah, I'm still looking for a good place, so it's not a problem. I have a few different areas in mind, but I wanted to scout them out a bit more before I made up my mind. Still, it'll have to wait until I break this curse."

"Is it... difficult being stuck as a human?"

"Well, it's not easy, that's for sure. But mostly, it's just really inconvenient." Natsu paused, considering, then added, "The food's great though. Humans really know how to cook."

The responding sound from Zeref was so soft that Natsu almost thought he had imagined it. But he hadn't made it this far in life by doubting his own senses.

Zeref's eyes snapped open when a shadow fell over him. He was startled to find Natsu leaning over him with his nose mere inches away, having propped himself up on one elbow.

"What?"

"You laughed," Natsu said, the surprise clear on his face.

"I did?"

"Yes, you did. I heard you." Slowly, Natsu's surprise turned to glee, and he grinned. "About time! I knew I'd get a laugh out of you sooner or later. Not sure what's funny about human food tasting great, but whatever. Good enough for me."

His face disappeared from Zeref's vision when he flopped back onto his back, leaving the wizard blinking up at the clouds. He had... laughed? Had he laughed? He couldn't remember the last time he had laughed. Was it even okay for him to laugh? He'd been responsible for so much grief.

"You're over thinking things," Natsu said, stifling a yawn. "Get some sleep. I'll wake you if anyone gets close. We can get going in an hour or so."

.

A fist pounded on her door, and Amika groaned. She'd been just about to fall asleep. Getting off the cot pushed against one wall of the infirmary where she usually slept, she stumbled over to the door, slid back the bolt, and opened it.

"What is it?" she demanded, raising a hand to shield her bleary eyes from the glow of the oil lamp in the person's hand.

Daniel's voice came out of the darkness. "Several messages just came in and... you have to see this. I don't know what to do."

He sounded upset, Amika thought the last traces of sleep clearing from her mind. Out of all the guards currently posted at this station, she and Daniel had been here the longest and knew one another best. He wouldn't have called her up in the middle of the night without a good reason.

"Come in," she said, letting the door swing open and moving to grab a coat from the nearby row of coat hooks upon the wall. Nights at this time of year were too chilly for her liking. Her hometown was located in much warmer climates.

Daniel didn't turn on the infirmary's main lights. Instead, he hurried to one of the tables, set down his lamp, and pulled several pieces of paper from his pocket. When Amika joined him, he handed one of these to her without saying a word.

It took the healer a second to realize what she was looking at. It was a wanted poster requesting information and cautioning civilians against approaching the target in question, and the face sketched upon it looked strangely familiar.

Amika gasped. "But that's—that can't be right."

"That's what I thought," Daniel said with a sigh. "But I think they're serious."

"He didn't seem like a dangerous criminal to me," Amika murmured, speaking mostly to herself. "Why do you think the knights are looking for him?"

"It says he's killed a lot of people," Daniel replied, referring to the small line of text at the bottom of the page.

Amika frowned. "There has to be some mistake. He was so upset by what happened in Aulia. Someone like that can't be a mass murderer. I just can't believe it."

Daniel rubbed a hand over his face and handed her a second piece of paper. "That's the other thing. Have a look at this."

This page contained a letter with instructions to increase the patrols around Aulia and any other nearby villages. Any sign of trouble or sighting of—sighting of—

Amika shivered and let the paper drop from her hands back onto the table. Suddenly, even with the extra coat, the room felt too cold.

"She got away? How could they let that happen?"

"Seems the woman they transported to prison was a magically created copy. There are spells around most wizard prisons to cancel out tricks and illusions. The moment she stepped across the threshold, she disappeared. The only thing left was a paper cutout in the shape of a person."

Amika chewed her lip then asked, "Do they have any idea when the switch happened?"

Daniel laughed, but it sounded hollow and tired. "They think it could have happened as early as the village when they took down that rune barrier to take her into custody. But it's more likely that it was sometime after that, since she spoke to some of the knights while they were on the road. Captain Edrik wants the two of us to be especially careful for awhile, because he thinks she might want revenge on us for helping to capture her."

Amika pulled a stool out from under the table and sat down heavily upon it. Her gaze fell once more upon the wanted poster.

"Should we... warn them? If she does want revenge, it makes more sense to go after them than us. We hardly did anything."

Daniel looked at the wanted poster too, expression clouded. Amika could almost hear him debating with himself, weighing the evidence of their own interactions with the wizard in the sketch with the words inked upon the page. Personally, the healer knew what she had more faith in.

"I'd like to warn them," he said at last, "but how? We have no way of contacting them. It's not like our message hawks are familiar with them."

"We know they'll be traveling along the Glass River," Amika said slowly, thinking out loud. "My sister works on one of the trading ships that frequent the area. We could send a message hawk to her."

"The fortuneteller?"

"Yes, her."

Daniel grimaced, remembering the one time he had met the rather eccentric woman and her just as eccentric husband, but nodded. "All right. If you write up the message, I'll send it first thing at dawn before anyone else gets to the hawks."

* * *

 **TBC...**

* * *

 **.**


	12. Feast Day

**Disclaimer** : I do not own Fairy Tail.

 **Pairing(s)** : eventually Natsu Dragneal x Zeref

 **WARNINGS: violence, alternative history,** **shounan ai (boy/boy pairing); you have been warned so don't like, don't read**

* * *

 **The Will to Live**

 **By V. Shalyr**

* * *

 **12\. Feast Day**

For better or worse, they were unable to avoid stopping in the next town—not because they needed additional supplies, but because the citizens spotted them before they could get off the road and roiled out of their houses to greet them.

Natsu glimpsed a quick succession of surprise, confusion, then panicked dismay cross his companion's face, and then the townsfolk were all around them, laughing, cheering, and trying to shake their hands.

"Hey!" Natsu shoved his way none too gently through the masses and wrapped an arm protectively around Zeref's hunched shoulders. "Give him some space, will you?"

Under his glare, the excited crowd reluctantly pulled back, although not nearly far enough for Zeref to relax. He shrank back against Natsu, hoping like hell that the dragon would be able to prevent any casualties if anything went wrong. The two of them would no longer be so welcome if the townsfolk began dropping dead.

A man dressed in a bright green waistcoat extracted himself from the crowd and gave them a small bow. When he straightened, they could see that he was smiling so broadly that even the small wrinkles around his eyes were pulled into the expression.

"Welcome, welcome! We've been expecting you. We received the news yesterday."

"News about what?" Natsu asked, baffled.

"Of your defeat of the dragon, of course," the man said, beaming. "A rider bringing us mail from Crinko told us."

"He must have met Taka's family on the road," Zeref said quietly for Natsu's ears only.

The dragon's confusion cleared. He'd forgotten that humans used horse-drawn coaches and riders on horseback to deliver mail from settlement to settlement. Sure, a few places used message hawks, but hawks were difficult to keep and could only take one or two messages at a time.

The man in green was still talking. "Please, let us show our gratitude. We've prepared a feast to celebrate, and we would be honored if you and your companion would join us. It's the least we could do."

That explained why the aroma of food was so strong.

These people were sincere, Natsu realized with some surprise. The relief and joy rolling off them was almost palpable. So then, what to do? It didn't seem right to just leave when these people were so eager to thank them, and Natsu had never had been to a celebratory feast before. But... Zeref was obviously very uncomfortable. They couldn't afford even one accident with his curse.

Zeref shifted a little under his arm, and Natsu glanced down to find a pair of dark eyes peering up at him. The shorter wizard studied Natsu's face for a moment then turned back to examine the crowd. A few of the faces turned towards them were beginning to look confused and worried at the two newcomers' lack of enthusiasm.

Natsu knew the moment Zeref made up his mind because his shoulders straightened a little and he turned to meet the dragon's gaze once more.

Hesitantly, he said, "I suppose we could stay for a little while."

"You sure?" Natsu asked.

Zeref nodded. "It would be bad to disappoint them after they went through all this trouble."

Natsu grinned and looked back at the man in green, who had been waiting patiently for their reply.

"Sure, no reason to turn down a feast. We're actually passing through on our way to somewhere else though, so I don't know how long we'll be able to stay."

"You're welcome for as long as you'd like to be here," the man assured them, raising his voice to be heard over the eruption of cheers. "Please, this way. Our fresh trout cuisines are famous all along the Glass River, as are our sweet potato pastries."

Zeref kept an eye on the townsfolk closest to him and let Natsu take care of which way the two of them were actually walking. He hoped he hadn't just made a monumentally stupid decision. Still... Natsu looked so excited that he couldn't help but feel that it was worth the risk.

.

Natsu wasn't used to humans being this happy to see him. Of course, he'd always found people screaming in terror and scrambling to run the other way to be kind of funny, but this was still a nice change.

Originally, the townsfolk had prepared a table for them on a raised dais, but Natsu had declined and appropriated a table by the large fountain in the middle of the town square instead. He gave Zeref the chair right next to the water and took the seat next to him himself. As far as deterring people from approaching the dark-haired wizard, it was a fairly effective arrangement. Zeref helped by keeping his head down and focusing most of his attention on whatever Natsu put in front of him. This had the added bonus of making it appear that he really appreciated the food being served by the local restaurants—which he did, although he appreciated not having to make small talk even more.

The man in green turned out to be the mayor. He and his wife sat across the table from the two wizards and took turns telling them about the town, raising their voices to be heard over the noise of the festivities and the table that was just a little too wide for convenient conversation.

"We get some very fine trout here in Oliva," the mayor said, gesturing at the many trout dishes upon their and others' tables. "They tend to be even better earlier in the year, although this year... well, never mind that. Let's not talk of tragedies on a celebration day."

"You simply must try the fish stew," his wife spoke up, ladling some into her own bowl before turning the handle of the ladle towards their guests. "It's my absolute favorite, and with all the ginger, it's quite good for you."

"I thought I asked them to remove the ginger," the mayor said, dismayed.

His wife frowned at him. "You just told me the other day that you thought you might be catching a cold. The ginger will help with that."

He sighed. "Yes, dear. Could you please pass me that pasta?"

"You know the doctor said you shouldn't eat so much rich food. It's bad for your heart."

"Just a bite won't hurt."

"No, but you never have jut one bite. Besides, our guests won't be able to try any of it if you clean the entire plate. Let them have some first."

Across from them, the two wizards exchanged bemused glances. The mayor and his wife appeared perfectly capable of carrying on the conversation all on their own, and to be honest, they were really quite funny.

About a fourth of the town plaza had been set aside for dancing, and several groups of musicians were taking turns performing on a makeshift stage. Natsu had seen some of the instruments before—drums made from tanned hide stretched over round wooden frames, lengths of bamboo or reed with holes bored into them at intervals, box-like instruments with anywhere from four to more than a dozen strings—but seeing them and actually hearing them played were two entirely different experiences. Hell, who knew that a couple fancily decorated pieces of wood could make such nice sounds? Or some of the sounds were nice. Some, like the noise the current band was producing, not so much. Natsu assumed it had to do with the skill of the musician.

"Well actually," Zeref said when Natsu voiced this opinion, "this particular song is meant to sound this way."

"Are you serious? But it's like they're all just randomly doing their own thing."

"That's because they are. This style of music was popular in some areas a decade ago." Zeref thought for a moment then added, "It doesn't always turn out so badly. Musicians who are better at listening to one another can coordinate such performances quite well. I heard a bit from quite a skilled group while I was passing through a place further west."

"That's good to know."

The band concluded its song, and there was a smattering of relieved applause when they got off stage to be replaced by a young woman dressed in midnight purple and a man with a guitar.

Natsu turned his attention back to the food, losing interest in the music entirely—right up until the moment that the young woman began to sing.

All other activity in the plaza slowed then stopped as everyone grew quiet to listen. The woman's voice rang out over the entire square, unbelievably clear and somewhat lower than Natsu had expected from a girl. Then again, screams of terror probably weren't a fair point of comparison. Even his untrained ears could tell that whatever else this performer was, she was an excellent singer.

Accompanied by a soft background of guitar chords, the singer's voice rose and fell, following the path of a simple but nonetheless beautiful melody. Her accent made it a little hard to figure out her exact words, but something about each long, drawn out note seemed both full of joy and yet a little sad. For almost four whole minutes, the woman held the attention of everyone around the plaza, and when the last, lilting note finally died away, there was another whole second of enchanted silence before her audience broke into hearty applause and shouts of praise.

The mayor's wife let out a long, deep sigh. "Minerva has such an amazing voice."

"She does," Zeref agreed.

Both the mayor and his wife started at the sound of his voice. It was the first time he had spoken to either of them this entire time.

"She was accepted to an extremely prestigious music conservatory earlier this year," the mayor said, more than happy to elaborate upon the subject if it interested the quieter of the pair. "She was supposed to travel there this spring, but... well, you know. I expect we'll be able to help her get there now, and explain to the admissions committee why she had to delay her response."

"That song she sang, the lyrics were very well done."

This time, it was the mayor's wife who answered. "She wrote them herself—the melody too. If I remember correctly, it was for her elder brother when he left home for his own apprenticeship some years ago. He's quite a well known blacksmith now, practicing in the capital."

Zeref nodded, unsurprised. "You can feel how much she cares for him."

And how much she missed him.

Just then, a giant cake was wheeled out of a nearby bakery on a trolley and the mayor was called over to help cut it. He and his wife excused themselves for a moment to speak with the bakers and show their appreciation for the work they had put in to the frosted masterpiece.

Natsu turned to his companion the moment their hosts were out of earshot.

"I didn't know you were interested in music."

"I'm not sure I would say that I am," Zeref replied. "But... it's been a long time since I've been able to just sit and listen to a performance like this. Even before my curse, I seldom allowed myself the time to do such things. It is... something that I regret."

"Staying for this feast wasn't such a bad idea then, huh?" Natsu asked.

"I suppose not." Zeref hesitated, then asked, "What about you? Is all this what you expected?"

Natsu gave this question serious consideration, surveying the activity around them. It was a somewhat disorganized picture to be honest. Almost none of the tables in the plaza were the same size, having been provided by the various families and businesses nearby. None of the tablecloths on those tables were the same color either, and even the cutlery and flatware looked like they had come out of a dozen different kitchen cabinets. The food was great, but actually getting to any of it wasn't quite so easy with all the miscellaneous furniture in the way and the people milling about. Overall, there was an incredible amount of noise and chaos, yet at the same time—like everyone could feel Minerva's love for her brother in her song, it was easy to feel both the townspeople's happiness and their desire to share it.

"It's not exactly what I expected," Natsu said at last, "but I'm having fun. I've never seen people acting like this before. Some things could be better, but yeah, these human gatherings aren't half bad."

Zeref nodded and said, "I'm glad."

They were quiet for awhile after that. Zeref declined the wine offered by a passing server, asking for a glass of water instead, then returned his attention to his food. Natsu, on the other hand, found that eating suddenly wasn't quite so interesting anymore. He watched his traveling companion pick at the potato salad that one waitress had recommended, wishing that he could see his eyes again.

It hadn't occurred to the dragon until now that Zeref had chosen to stay for his sake.

* * *

 **TBC...**

* * *

 **.**


	13. Not Really Stowaways

**Disclaimer** : I do not own Fairy Tail.

 **Pairing(s)** : eventually Natsu Dragneal x Zeref

 **WARNINGS: violence, alternative history,** **shounan ai (boy/boy pairing); you have been warned so don't like, don't read**

* * *

 **The Will to Live**

 **By V. Shalyr**

* * *

 **13\. Not Really Stowaways**

The small house on the edge of the docks had once been a vacation home, but that was before the dragon had moved into the area. According to the mayor, the original owner had tried and failed to sell it, and then simply abandoned it. It was no wonder really. Set some distance apart from most of the town as it was, it would have been the perfect target for a hungry dragon, and the wooden walls would have provided poor protection.

For its current occupants, however, its location couldn't have been more ideal. No immediate neighbors, very few passing boats, and almost zero random passersby.

Natsu stood by the large window in the house's single bedroom. He had unlatched and opened the wooden shutters to let in the cool morning breeze. Narrowed eyes scanned the view of the river beyond, searching for anything amiss. He had sensed something earlier, something off that he couldn't quite place his finger on, and even though whatever it was no longer seemed to be close, it bothered him. The only thing Natsu knew for sure was that whatever it was, it was bad news and it was somewhere on the river.

Oh well, he'd just have to stay alert and deal with it if it approached them.

Turning away from the window, Natsu glanced back towards the bed. Zeref was still asleep on the far side of it, the blanket pulled up so far that all Natsu could see of him was a mop of black hair. The townspeople had made up only the one bed for them the night before, and both wizards had been too tired to comment on it. Besides, these people had been very generous so far, and they didn't want to trouble them with unimportant details.

Hell, to think they had actually stayed the night in town. These people didn't realize how strange that was.

Hmmm. Natsu had never really noticed it before, but Zeref had a rather pleasant scent. The dragon hadn't had much time to pay attention to it until now, and besides, it wasn't until recently that Zeref had really begun relaxing around him. Natsu supposed the boy was finally starting to get used to him.

It was... kind of endearing that Zeref had agreed to attend yesterday's feast just because of how excited Natsu had been at the prospect.

Natsu listened to his even breathing for awhile, trying to decide whether to wake him. Zeref's sleep looked unusually peaceful though, and yesterday had to have been stressful. They weren't actually in a hurry, and none of the townspeople would bother them here. Besides, it sounded like the entire town was still asleep, having partied itself out last night. They had time for the wizard to sleep awhile longer. In the meantime, Natsu may as well look around town since they hadn't had the time to do so the day before.

.

True to Natsu's suspicions, the streets were practically deserted. A few of the shops he saw had opened their doors, but the shopkeepers within either had their heads down on their folded arms or were nodding off over some book or other. It wasn't until he found the post office that he saw anyone who actually appeared alert.

The post office door had been propped open, and a boy perched on a tall stool inside with a whole bunch of papers scattered on the desk in front of him. He looked to be about Taka's age—maybe nine or ten years—and sported a mane of mahogany hair that looked like it had never been combed in his life.

When he spotted Natsu in the doorway, he lowered the stack of envelopes in his hands and grinned. "Good morning, sir. Wonderful feast yesterday, wasn't it?"

"Yeah, it was." Natsu gestured at the cluttered tabletop and asked, "What's all that?"

"It's the latest batch of mail," the boy replied, waving a white envelope. "We got two whole bags this time. I'm in charge of making sure they all get delivered to the right people and places."

The boy puffed out his narrow chest, obviously very proud of this great responsibility.

"It's easier if I get them all sorted out here first—before I make my rounds." He pointed to a number of different piles. "Those are all private letters, these are for the different businesses, the ones over there are all messages that need to be posted on the bulletin boards in the town hall, and—oh, these ones here go in the boxes on the docks for the boats passing through."

"Is there always this much mail?" Natsu asked.

The boy shook his head. "Not usually. It's just that with the dragon and all, people hadn't really been delivering stuff. The mail coaches used to run pretty regularly every other day, but when the dragon came, we only ever sent a rider now and then on the fastest horse we could get."

"I see."

Something amidst the mess of papers had caught Natsu's attention. He reached out and pulled a page from under several others. His eyes widened a fraction before he could hide his surprise. He didn't know all the words written under the sketch, but the message was clear enough—as was the amount of reward money promised in exchange.

"What's that?" the boy asked, watching him curiously.

Natsu shrugged, thinking fast. "Just a wanted poster. I assume it's headed for that bulletin board you mentioned. Say, I've done some bounty hunting work myself. Is it okay if I just go ahead and take this?"

The boy thought for a moment then shrugged. "Sure, it should be okay. I think the bounty hunters who come through town do that a lot. If whoever it is doesn't get caught soon, someone will send another copy."

Natsu just bet they would.

Damn, it looked like Zeref wasn't going to get as much sleep as Natsu had wanted him to. They had to get out of here, the sooner the better. Had this poster been sent to all of the settlements in the area? If so, their journey just got a whole lot more complicated.

Natsu left the boy to his work with a falsely cheerful farewell and strode back down the street. The down side of traveling on the road along the river was the severe lack of cover as compared with what they had had back in the woods. Maybe Zeref could cast a concealment spell on himself? But no, he'd asked the wizard about it before, and magic always left a kind of signature for anyone trained to detect it.

Catching sight of a clothing store on the corner, he detoured inside and made a beeline for the shopkeeper sleeping with her head on her folded arms upon the checkout counter. She woke with a start when he addressed her and sat up quickly, rubbing the drowsiness from her eyes.

"You—want a what?"

"A cloak," Natsu repeated, "for my friend."

The shopkeeper brightened and got up from her chair.

"Oh, you're in luck there. I still have several very fine cloaks in stock. Did you have anything particular in mind?"

The dragon took a moment to think about this, trying to remember what kinds of cloaks he had seen humans wear.

"Something with a deep hood," he said, starting with the most important feature. Hopefully, it would help obscure Zeref's face and make him harder to recognize. "And it would be great if it was good for both warm and cold weather. There are cloaks like that, right?"

"Oh certainly," she said, smiling. "You're looking for a cloak with a detachable fur lining. What do you think of this one?"

Natsu had just paid for his purchase when he caught a whiff of incense on the air. He glanced through the open shop door and spotted a woman seated upon a wooden bench on the other side of the street—a woman who looked a lot like someone he knew.

"Sir? Did you need a bag for that?"

"No, that's okay. Thanks."

Sweeping the neatly folded bundle of cloth from the counter, Natsu headed out the door.

Dark eyes glanced up through thick, chestnut hair when he approached.

"Natsu, am I correct?" she asked.

"That's right. You look a lot like Amika, but you don't smell like her."

The woman arched one thin eyebrow. "Is that an insult or a compliment?"

"It's neither. It's a fact. So who are you?"

"Refreshingly straightforward," she said dryly. "My name is Maki, and Amika is my older sister—although only by a few minutes."

Maki stood and brushed off her khaki pants.

"You saw it then," she said, glancing pointedly at the cloak Natsu held. "The wanted poster."

The dragon wizard narrowed his eyes.

Before he could say anything, however, Maki continued, "No need to glare at me like that. I'm not going to turn your friend in. The opposite, in fact. I'm here to help."

"Why?" Natsu asked suspiciously. One thing he'd never liked about humans was how unscrupulous they could be when money was involved.

She gave him a rueful smile. "Because Amika asked me to, and I have the feeling that it's the right thing to do."

.

Zeref sat cross-legged on the bed, looking from the wanted poster with his own face on it to the letter that Amika had sent to her sister. The fact that the Rune Knights had put out a wanted poster for information about him did not surprise him. Actually, it surprised him that it had taken this long for them to get around to it. Amika's warning worried him more. No doubt that dark wizard with her cursed paper spells would come looking for them, and unlike the knights, she would not hesitate to hurt bystanders in order to get her revenge.

"I got this for you," Natsu said, shaking out the cloak and holding it up so Zeref could see it. "It'll be way harder to tell who you are if you have the hood up."

The cloak in question was a soft dove gray that wouldn't stand out too much, and the inside was lined with pale brown fur.

"For when the weather gets cold," Natsu explained. "It's detachable. I know you're not immune to the weather."

In other words, the dragon had been thinking ahead. The temperature would drop the closer they drew to the mountains and the lake that was their destination. A warm piece of clothing would certainly be a comfort if not an absolute necessity.

"We should leave before the rest of the town wakes up," Natsu continued. "I took their wanted poster, but I'm sure the knights will send another one eventually. I don't think that many people got a good look at you, but it's hard to be sure and I don't want to take the chance that they might give you away."

Zeref nodded and got up to begin packing what few items of theirs that weren't already in their travel bags—mostly small gifts from the townspeople. For the first time in longer than he could remember, he didn't want to wait and see what the knights had in store to try on him. He wanted to find their way to Eden Lake. He wanted to meet this curse breaker that Natsu had told him of and try to find a way to dispel his curse. He wanted, more than he was willing to admit just yet, to keep traveling with Natsu.

"Maki said her husband is a trader, and he's got their ship waiting just outside of town."

Zeref paused. "A boat? But I can't travel by boat. That would be a terrible idea."

"Yeah, I thought of that. I told them not to worry if we suddenly jumped off the side or something. They'll carry us as far as they can and drop us off before nightfall."

"Upriver, against the current?" Zeref asked, brow furrowed.

"That's what she said."

Zeref wasn't sure how much distance they would actually be able to cover that way, but he supposed it would be safer than walking out on the open road—for a short while anyway.

When he actually saw the small ship waiting for them, Zeref discovered that he was wrong. This ship would be able to travel very quickly indeed, even against the current.

"What makes you say that?"

In answer to Natsu's question, Zeref pointed at the colorful red, blue, and yellow patterns painted along the ship's sides.

"If you look carefully, you can see several rune sequences worked into the pattern. It looks like they have enchantments for speed, stability, resistance against decay, and even prevention of motion sickness. The runes don't stand out because the artwork is so complicated, but they're not difficult to distinguish if you are familiar with magical symbols."

"Huh, I just thought whoever built the ship had really bad taste in art."

"The colors are a bit garish," Zeref agreed. "I would have gone for something more... subtle."

Of course, neither wizard was tactless enough to voice these opinions aloud when they met Maki and her husband on deck.

"Thank you for your assistance," Zeref said, nodding politely to the couple.

The trader rubbed his chin and eyed the wizard thoughtfully. "Well, you don't look or act much like a hard-bitten criminal. Then again, if all criminals had it written on their faces, this world would be an easier place."

Zeref wasn't sure how he was supposed to respond to this, and Maki saved him the trouble of saying anything by speaking up herself.

"Troy, we should set sail before the sun gets too much higher. It'll be easier of we reach the checkpoint by noon. The guards there never look too closely at the ships when they're in a hurry to get to lunch."

"Yeah, I know." Troy waved at a member of his crew who had stopped to stare. "Hey, get back to work. You're being rude to our guests—who, by the way, were never here. Got it?"

"O—of course, sir. Sorry."

The sailor hurried off, and Maki led the wizards towards the hatch that led below deck.

"There's a guard post further north that we'll have to sail past," Maki explained, climbing down the ladder ahead of them. "It's their job to keep an eye out for illegal cargo—drugs, for example. Until we pass them, I'm afraid you'll have to stay out of sight."

The interior of the ship wasn't quite as dark as Zeref had expected, courtesy of a few well-placed, circular windows. Maki led them along a short, narrow corridor and pushed open one of the doors on the right.

"I apologize if it's a little cramped, but we thought this would make the best hiding place in case any of the guards come onboard. We do some trading in curios and antiques in addition to fabrics and dyes. This is where we keep them."

The two wizards stepped into the room and couldn't help but stare. They weren't sure what was weirder. Upon first glance, it was up between the monster skeleton carved of wood grinning at them from the far right corner and the twelve-armed coat rack with the screaming face.

"Uh, people actually buy this stuff?" Natsu asked before Zeref could stop him.

Maki didn't seem offended though.

"They do, and a lot of them will pay good money too—especially if a piece has a particularly interesting story." She tapped the side of a large, porcelain vase with what had to be more than a thousand spiders painted upon its sides. The polished surface pinged against her fingernail. "Take this vase for example. People say that sometimes, when the moon is full, you can see the spiders move, and they weave webs upon the porcelain that foretell a person's future."

Aside from the disturbing mass of extremely detailed arachnids, Zeref thought the vase appeared perfectly ordinary.

"I don't think it's actually magical," he said cautiously. It was not inconceivable that he was missing something here.

"That's because it isn't," Maki replied. "I've tried it several times myself. But it's the story that counts."

Okay, Zeref supposed he could understand that.

"There are plenty of places for a person or two to hide in here," Maki continued. "You should hear when the guard post is getting close. Meanwhile, please try to stay away from the windows, and we'll let you know when it's all clear."

After Maki had left and closed the door behind her, Zeref glanced around at the motley collection of bizarre antiques with a growing sense of misgiving. The spider vase that fortold the future might not have been magical, but several other things amidst this cargo were. To be perfectly frank, they were giving him the creeps.

"There's something here."

Zeref turned at the sound of Natsu's voice to find him glaring at several items gathered in a large, wooden dish. There were several small bottles that appeared to be made of crystal or thick glass, a tortoise shell comb, and a rectangular mirror set in a black iron frame.

"I don't know what it is," Natsu said, "but it feels evil."

Zeref joined him in front of the table and inspected the artifacts in question. Out of everything in the room, these were probably the most ordinary in appearance, but he knew what Natsu meant. Something about the items on the plate made him itch to throw them overboard. Unfortunately, they didn't belong to him and doing so would have been rude.

Although... it could be for the crew's own good.

"I kind of want to just destroy it all," Natsu muttered, "but I guess that would be wrong."

"Probably."

Zeref had to admit, however, that Natsu's suggestion was extremely tempting. Perhaps they could bring the matter up with Maki later.

.

When they heard the guards call out to the crew and the boat bumped to a stop, the wizards looked up from the book of fairytales. Natsu was learning very quickly. It was amazing what you could do with restaurant menus as a start. From what Zeref could tell, the dragon had been memorizing the overall shape of printed words and associating them with their edible counterparts in real life, so learning to read became largely a matter of breaking down those words into individual letters and sounds. After that, it was mostly about practice.

"They're getting onboard," Natsu said, listening intently. "Two of them."

Zeref glanced at the page number then closed the book and tucked it back into his travel bag.

"Are they coming down here?"

Natsu listened a moment longer then said, "Yeah, they are."

Zeref looked around at the jumbled mess of antiques.

"I'm not sure where Maki thought we could hide. Behind some of these boxes or under a table seems too obvious."

"Do you think inside that wardrobe would be too obvious?"

Zeref looked at the wardrobe. Its massive, woodendoors had been carved to resemble one gigantic, snarling face, and the front of it was crisscrossed with chains.

"Under normal circumstances, I would say yes," the wizard said. "But considering how it looks, I suppose it might work. Assuming we could actually get inside in the first place."

"Not a problem," Natsu replied, walking up to the wardrobe's left side. He ran his hand along the edges for a second then swung the entire wooden panel outward. "See? This bit's newer than the rest, and it doesn't even smell like the same kind of wood."

"I see." Zeref peered uncertainly into the wardrobe's dark interior. "I can't see anything. Is it empty?"

"Yeah. Can you tell if it's enchanted? It's got all these little markings along the edges of the door."

"It's not. None of those markings are real runes."

Natsu snorted. "It's stupid what humans do for the sake of appearances. Right. Better hide then. They're almost here."

The floor of the wardrobe creaked softly when Zeref stepped gingerly onto it and edged towards the other side. It smelled a little musty, but not nearly as bad as he had feared. Natsu had no sooner eased the hidden door back into place when the cargo room door swung inward. Maki's voice reached them first.

"And this is our storage area for antiques and curiosities. We apologize if it's not as well organized as the textiles."

An unfamiliar voice replied, "That's all right. We'll just take a quick look around, and then we'll be out of your hair."

The two wizards in the wardrobe held very still, not wanting the floor to creak again. There wasn't quite as much space inside as they had anticipated. If it had been anyone but Natsu next to him, Zeref would have been panicking already. Part of him wondered why he wasn't. If anything, the fact that they were standing so close that he could feel the warmth of the other's body was actually... kind of comforting, except that he didn't quite trust his own sense of security.

"These pots are very big," another unfamiliar voice said.

"Ah, those are some lovely pieces, aren't they?" Troy's voice rang with pride. "The master sculptor who crafted them mostly worked on busts, but when he lost his son to illness, he became obsessed with creating vessels for holding the souls of the dead. The images on the outside are supposed to represent the journey to the next life, but the real art is actually on the inside. Just give me a second to remove the lid and I'll let you have a look at them."

"Uh, that's all right. There's no need."

"Hey," the first unfamiliar voice spoke up. "That's a really nice ring. I've been looking for an engagement ring for my fiancé."

It was Maki who answered this time. "Oh, I'm sorry, that ring wouldn't be suitable if you want a happy engagement."

"What? Why not?"

"Supposedly, it drives anyone who wears it mad."

"Does it really?"

"We haven't tried it, but there are more than a dozen stories—"

"Which we really don't have time for," the second inspector cut in. "Although, if you don't mind me asking, should you really be selling something that dangerous?"

"Oh no, we're not selling that one," Troy said. "We're taking it to a wizard for an appraisal, then it's going to a museum in Crocus."

"Where nobody is going to try and wear it."

"Exactly."

There was a bit more chatter, and then finally, four sets of footsteps left the room. The wizards waited for a minute longer before Natsu turned and reached past Zeref's head to feel the wall.

"This has to be what, half the wardrobe? What do you think is in the other half?"

"Natsu, I don't suppose you could let me out before you keep looking?"

"Wait, I think this part slides up." There was a scraping sound as of wood across wood, then part of the wall next to Zeref disappeared. "Hey, reach over and see what's there, will you? I can see something dark."

Shifting around in the cramped space, Zeref carefully reached through the gap in the partition, feeling about in the darkness. His fingers encountered something with a very familiar shape.

"Natsu, there are several books in there."

"Yeah? Let's get them outside. I want a better look at what we found."

Now equally intrigued, Zeref carefully passed each book to Natsu, who opened the wardrobe and placed them on a clear patch of table. There were a dozen volumes in all, each one bound in green silk and devoid of any names or titles.

"These are research journals," Zeref noted, flipping one book open to a random page. "I think the writer was a historian."

"The handwriting looks like chicken scratch," Natsu said, making a face at the scribbles that crammed each page from edge to edge. "I can't read a word of it."

"It is pretty bad." Zeref turned a page. "From what I can tell, my guess is that the writer was studying old civilizations."

"Which is what history is mostly about," Natsu pointed out.

Zeref had to concede that that was true.

"These could be quite valuable though. I wonder if Maki and the others know about them."

"Well, you can tell her now. She's coming down."

"Just her?"

"Yup. Hopefully, it's to tell us that we can go upstairs now. Whatever they've got cooking up there, it smells great, and I'm hungry."

* * *

 **TBC...**

* * *

 **.**


	14. The Third Passenger

**Disclaimer** : I do not own Fairy Tail.

 **Pairing(s)** : eventually Natsu Dragneal x Zeref

 **WARNINGS: violence, alternative history,** **shounan ai (boy/boy pairing); you have been warned so don't like, don't read**

* * *

 **The Will to Live**

 **By V. Shalyr**

* * *

 **14\. The Third Passenger**

"My great uncle was the original owner of that wardrobe," Troy said, rifling through one of the green-bound volumes. "He passed away last year at the ripe old age of a hundred and sixteen. In his will, he asked that someone take the wardrobe and throw it into the sea. That's why we have it, since we often do business in the seaport at the mouth of the Glass River. He told us all it was cursed, but I guess what he really wanted was to destroy these old research notes."

Troy and Maki had invited their two guests to have lunch with them in the captain's cabin, and the square table was littered with books and plates.

"Why though?" Maki wondered, leafing through another volume. "This looks like several years of hard work."

Zeref set down his teacup and sighed. "Perhaps he found something or recovered some piece of information that he wished to protect. Something that he thought was better lost."

Natsu glanced from Zeref to the books, polished off the last bite of his fish stew, and said, "Guess that means we should put them back in the wardrobe."

The trader and his wife shared a brief look of disappointment, but agreed.

"It was his will after all," Troy said. "Although it does seem like such a waste."

"I hate throwing things away," Maki said, shaking her head. "There's even a map in this one. It looks like it could be the area around Eden Lake."

"Maki..."

"I know. I'll stop looking now."

At the mention of Eden Lake, the two wizards exchanged startled glances. But they hadn't actually told anyone of their final destination, and so neither of them commented on the matter. With the knights and the dark wizard searching for them, it was probably safer for these people not to know.

"Speaking of things you have below deck," Natsu said instead, "there's something bad down there on one of the tables. You should really get rid of it."

At the couple's puzzled expressions, Zeref explained, "There were a number of crystal bottles, a comb, and a mirror. I can't say for sure, but I think the problem is mostly the bottles."

"Crystal bottles?" Troy repeated, a wrinkle appearing on his forehead. "Do we have something like that?"

"I might remember what you're referring to," Maki said slowly. "If you're talking about what I think you're talking about, we picked them up from a pawn shop some time ago. The faces carved into their stoppers were quite unusual, like the masks they use in some theatre performances."

"I could go get the tray if you want to see them," Natsu said, pushing his chair back and getting to his feet. "I could destroy them for you too if you want."

Troy rose as well. "I'll put these books back in the wardrobe."

After both men had left, Maki turned to Zeref and gestured at his teacup. "Would you like me to take a look at your future?"

He drew the cup closer to himself instinctively and stared at her. "What do you mean?"

She laughed. "No need to be so apprehensive. It's my hobby. I'm a fortuneteller. Reading the stars is more my specialty, but I find tea leaves more fun."

Zeref wrapped his other hand around his cup as well. "I would really rather you didn't, if it's all the same to you."

Maki's eyebrows shot up to meet her hairline. "I've never met someone so reluctant to hear some predictions about how life's going to go."

"I know how my life is most likely going to go," Zeref said. "I don't want to know if I'm right."

"Not if you're wrong?"

"I would like to be wrong, but I am very rarely wrong about things."

Bemused, Maki sat back in her chair. "You're a strange one, that's for sure. I've met people who don't care and people who don't believe in such predictions. I've never met anyone who thought he already knew."

The wizard dropped his gaze to the clear brown contents of his cup and the collection of dark, fragmented leaves on the bottom. He couldn't tell her that his life had looked pretty much the same for the past century. He couldn't tell her that it was only recently with the addition of Natsu to his life that he had begun to see any hope at all of change, and that half of him was still terrified at the prospect of allowing himself to hope at all. He couldn't believe yet, not completely, that he might actually have any sort of future.

Maki rested her elbows on the table and propped her chin on her clasped hands. The gaze that she fixed upon him was a little too sharp and a little too thoughtful for his peace of mind.

"When I got that letter from Amika," she said quietly. "I did a reading—to see if what she was asking would cause us all trouble. She's too kind for her own good sometimes. This time though... I didn't really understand what I saw in the stars. I still don't. But the gist of it, or so I believe, was that helping you could very well influence all of our futures. That somehow, the choices you make could affect how our entire world turns out. I don't know how that can be. But if it's true, I hope you think carefully about the things you choose to do."

Zeref said nothing. Her words made him feel cold, and he wished fervently that Natsu would hurry back. As far as the Black Wizard was concerned, he didn't want anything to do with the world's future, not anymore. He'd made enough of a mess of things already.

.

"What's that guy's problem?" Natsu grumbled. He didn't bother with the ladder this time, jumping down to the floor below and landing lightly on his feet. "If he gives me or my friend that annoying stare again, I'm going to break his nose."

"Please excuse him," Troy said, hurrying down the ladder after him with the books in a large bag slung over his shoulder. "The lad's lived a sheltered life. He's never met anyone like you two before."

"What, wizards?"

"Ah, no." The man flushed and cleared his throat. "Er, I meant, uh... I meant that the idea that two men can be romantically involved with one another is new to him."

Natsu frowned. "So? What does that have to do with us?"

Seriously, humans could be weirdly interested in other people's love lives.

Troy scratched the back of his head, now just as puzzled. "You and that boy, you're not lovers?"

"What gave you that idea?"

"Well, when we stopped by the feast yesterday, we saw—the way you were hovering over him the entire time, we just assumed..." The trader trailed off, embarrassed. "Sorry, it seems we were a bit too quick to jump to conclusions."

Troy changed the subject, launching into a speech about his beloved ship and the wizard shipwright who had designed it for him.

Natsu was no longer listening though. He had no interest in boats, and anyway, what the trader had suggested about him and Zeref was far more interesting. So that was how these people had interpreted their behavior, was it? His first reaction was amusement. Going back over the scene in his mind, he could see how they might reach that conclusion, since there were a lot of unusual circumstances involved that they couldn't know about. His second reaction, however, was thoughtfulness.

Natsu hadn't seriously started looking for a mate yet, although he was about the right age. Generally speaking, claiming a territory came first, and anyway, Natsu had never met another dragon that he would care to share his kills with, let alone spend his life with. It had never occurred to him before that he could look among humans for a potential partner. It wasn't completely unheard of—his father had told him of a friend of his who had fallen in love with a human woman and chosen to live with her as a human—but for the most part, humans were too fragile and too short-lived. That same dragon had been utterly grief-stricken when she passed away of old age and followed her soon after. Unlike that dragon's chosen mate, however, Zeref was immortal, and if what he had told Natsu was to be believed—and Zeref was, overall, a very truthful person—his body was difficult to injure and quick to heal. That meant that he was neither fragile nor short-lived. Of course, it was a bit of a downside that he wouldn't be able to bear Natsu any children, but then Natsu wasn't all that interested in having offspring anyway.

Natsu had already decided that he was fond of Zeref's company, and he'd caught himself thinking on a number of occasions that the human was rather adorable—which was unusual, since Natsu had mostly thought of humans as somewhat funny-looking creatures. Scanning through his own memories of their time together so far, the dragon could say quite honestly that, aside from the first few days, he hadn't experienced any great irritation at the thought of having to share his meals with the boy. Of course, some of that was just the dragon's unwillingness to watch another living creature starve, but that had only been the case at the beginning. Natsu also couldn't deny that he did indeed feel rather protective of the dark-haired wizard, and that he had no intention of parting ways with him even after this whole curse business was sorted out—and it wasn't just because he knew that Zeref would be lonely. Natsu's reasons were more selfish than that.

Huh, the idea was worth considering.

"Here we go," Troy said, opening the cargo room door and weaving his way through the clutter to the wardrobe. "I'll just put these back."

Natsu went over to the table where the crystal bottles had been, but stopped short when he spotted the wooden plate. The bottles that had been on it were gone. He couldn't sense them at all, which meant they were no longer in the room. There were, however, very faint traces of a familiar smell, and he had to bite back a growl.

Amika's warnings might have come just a little too late.

"Did you find them?" Troy asked, following the direction of his gaze.

"They're gone," Natsu said shortly. "Let's go back. I need to check on something."

The very confused trader followed Natsu out of the room and down the hall. Rather than immediately head up the ladder, however, the dragon wizard paused before one of the ship's round, glass windows. It was very faint—hardly noticeable if he hadn't been searching for them—but he could see several needle-thin scratches in the wood, as though something sharp but extremely narrow had scraped past. The smell was stronger here and unmistakable.

.

Zeref looked up expectantly when the cabin door opened, but his relief at seeing Natsu was cut short by the stormy expression on the dragon wizard's face.

"Is something wrong?" he asked, concerned.

Natsu didn't waste time beating around the bush. "That dark wizard, she was here—or at least one of her paper things was. Those weird crystal bottles are gone too, and I'm sure she took them."

Zeref's heart sank. Of course she'd caught up with them, and at a monumentally terrible time. This was why he should never travel by boat.

"You don't mean the dark wizard Amika mentioned in her letter," Troy said, his voice loud with alarm. "But we haven't let any strangers onboard for weeks aside from you two."

Natsu replied grimly, "You wouldn't have had to. She usually sent these enchanted paper things to do her work for her. It would have been easy for her to sneak a spell onto your ship. She could have done it any time she wanted."

No one knew for certain when the dark wizard had escaped. For all they knew, she could have caught up with them days ago and just worked hard to stay off their radar.

"What should we do?" Maki asked, worrying at her lower lip in a manner that made her look very much like her sister.

"If she's looking for us, it would probably be better if we got off this ship," Natsu said, glancing at Zeref to see what he thought of this.

"That would probably be best," the other wizard agreed, rising to his feet. "We can't fight here. Are you certain that she isn't onboard?"

"I can't say for sure. Can you sense her?"

Zeref closed his eyes and let his awareness spread outward—only to recoil a second later with a grimace. This ship was so laced with spellsthat the whole thing practically blazed. In addition to all the magic in the wood, there were all the enchantments attached to various objects and people. Much of the magic felt benign, but almost just as much was tainted with malice or simply undistinguishable. Of all the things these people had to collect, why did they have to choose artifacts of questionable origin? If the dark wizard was any good at concealing herself—and they knew from experience that she was—then there was no way he would be able to locate her amidst this chaos.

"We may have to search the ship more carefully," he said, opening his eyes again. "There's far too much interference."

"I'll get the rest of our crew together above deck," Maki said, standing as well. "Troy, you know this ship best, so if you could go with them and keep an eye out for anything that's out of place?"

Her husband nodded and steppedback out of the cabin,adjusting his coat as he went. Zeref seldom paid much attention to what people wore—or what they looked like for that matter—so he hadn't noticed until now that the vivid blue fabric was sewn with rows of brass disks. He had assumed that they were decorative buttons or badges, but upon closer inspection, they were all bespelled. There were charms against sickness, charms against injury, charms against evil and trickery, and even what looked like it might be a charm against hair loss from the design etched into the burnished metal. Zeref didn't have the heart to tell him that all those charms together wouldn't make the trader any more safe if the dark wizard attacked him. If they helped the man feel more courageous, then perhaps that was a kind of magic too.

.

Natsu let the other two walk ahead of him before following, keeping an eye on their backs. That dark wizard sure had lousy timing, he thought with some annoyance. He had some major thinking to do here, and the dark wizard was getting in the way.

Natsu surveyed the deserted riverbanks before letting his gaze settle back on Zeref. The boy was wearing the gray cloak Natsu had gotten him, although the hood was currently down and pooled in loose folds about his slim shoulders. He was walking straighter, Natsu noted, which meant that he was focused and not feeling overly anxious. That was one good thing at least.

Back below deck, Troy led the two wizards from room to room, unlocking each one for them so they could inspect their contents. They left the rooms that served as sleeping quarters for the other crew members as quickly as possible, not wanting to infringe more than necessary on their privacy. They had reached the last of these when they found the first sign of something wrong.

"Toji?" Troy knocked on the door. "Toji, we just need to come in for a moment. I'm opening the door now."

He added to the wizards as he selected the right key on his key ring," Poor man hasn't been feeling well. We thought he caught a cold after falling into the river a couple days ago."

He lowered his voice when he opened the door. "Toji? We'll just be a second."

The body on the right hand cot groaned.

"Captain?"

"Yeah, it's me. Are you feeling any better?"

The lump on the bed groaned again, which was answer enough even without his reply. "I think I feel worse, captain. I might really need to see a healer this time."

"Don't worry. We'll find you a healer in the next town."

The man coughed, the sound rattling in his chest, and he turned to give his captain a weak smile. "Thanks."

He looks horrible, Natsu thought, startled.

Toji had the hollowed out look of a man who had lost a great deal of weight very quickly. His skin was unhealthily pale and hung a little too loosely from his frame to be normal. Combined with the exhaustion that lined his face, they made him look both weatherworn and old.

For a moment, Troy's face froze with shock before he could school his expression into something more comforting.

"Just get some more rest," the trader said carefully. "And give a shout if you need anything. I'll send someone to check on you again before dinner."

When the door of the room was closed once more and they were back out in the hallway, Zeref asked, "When did you say he fell ill?"

"I don't really remember," Troy replied, obviously shaken. "Only a few days. I had no idea it was this bad. He looks like he's aged ten years!"

Zeref's lips thinned, and Natsu realized with some surprise that the wizard was growing angry. It was the first time Zeref had been truly angry about anything since they'd met. Natsu wondered what was going on here on this ship to provoke such a reaction and was about to ask, but just then, the people above began to shout.

* * *

 **TBC...**

* * *

 **AN:** Sorry about the slight cliffhanger. I dislike cliffhangers myself, so I try not to have too many of them. Still, it was a good place to break the chapter—and the next chapter should be up soon, so the wait won't be too long.

 **.**


	15. Battle in the Fog

**Disclaimer** : I do not own Fairy Tail.

 **Pairing(s)** : eventually Natsu Dragneal x Zeref

 **WARNINGS: violence, alternative history,** **shounan ai (boy/boy pairing); you have been warned so don't like, don't read**

* * *

 **The Will to Live**

 **By V. Shalyr**

* * *

 **15\. Battle in the Fog**

Emerging back on deck was like climbing into another world. Somehow, in the half hour they had been below, a dense fog had swept over the river and surrounded the ship. Everything beyond the sides of the ship was shrouded in white, and even the blaze of the sun had been reduced to a dull gray pallor. However, this was not why people were screaming.

Ribbons of parchment etched with glowing lines of orange light flailed through the air like snakes. They lashed around sailors' legs, tripping them, and slashed at unprotected faces with their razor sharp edges. When their victims wrapped their arms around their heads to shield their eyes, the paper serpents sliced through their sleeves and the skin of their arms instead. The wounds were not deep, but they were deep enough to draw blood. A few of the men and women had kept the presence of mind to draw daggers or knives and swung wildly at the flying paper tags, attempting to sever them or at least drive them away from their bodies. Mostly though, their attempts were futile. When one did manage to slice a paper snake in half, the halves that fell to the deck only writhed about and went for their feet instead.

"Damn it!" Natsu snarled and charged into the fray, fists blazing. Any paper serpent unfortunate enough to become his target caught fire and turned to ash almost at once, but there were just too many of them and Natsu had to be careful not to hurt the sailors or scorch the ship.

Zeref dispatched a batch of paper snakes that swarmed towards him with a fire spell of his own, then ducked back against the side of the captain's cabin. With his back against the solid wooden wall, he could survey the battle and protect himself at the same time. He needed to locate the dark wizard controlling these things if they wanted to stop them from harming the crew. He knew that the dark wizard could send her paper minions quite some distance away from her, but to call up such a dense fog around them and maintain it this way, she had to be nearby.

"Maki!" Troy bellowed and sprinted past him.

Zeref fought down the urge to look. He had to concentrate. He couldn't let the fight going on distract him. Natsu would handle that.

 _There_.

Gathering a ball of raw energy in his hand, Zeref threw it at a spot just ahead and to the right of the ship's prow. The attack struck something invisible, and the air above the water warped and rippled. When the distortion resolved itself, a thin woman with a waterfall of black hair stood upon a thin sheet of paper that hovered just above the river's surface. Her trailing white gown made her look like a ghost against the mist. For some reason, her too-red lips were curved upward in a smile despite the fact that he had just discovered her hiding place.

"You certainly are quite a wizard, aren't you?" she said, her voice carrying clearly over the din.

"Your quarrel is with my friend and me," Zeref told her, another spell gathering power in his palm. "Stop attacking this ship."

Again, Shelsy—if that was even her real name, which he doubted—surprised him.

"I could do that," she said amiably. "But I have a condition."

Taken aback, Zeref took a long second to answer. "Which is?"

"I want to talk with you," she said.

"We're talking now," he pointed out, but she only laughed.

"Not here. Somewhere without your Dragon Slayer friend."

Reading the suspicion and indecision in his eyes, Shelsy's smile widened and she waved one slim, pale hand. A white envelope flittered up into the air and across the intervening distance to settle at Zeref's feet.

"I've put the details of where and when in that envelope," she said. "And to show my sincerity, I'll call off my spells. Although... seeing as I am a dark wizard and you were the ones who arrested me once, I'll just take one of these people as... insurance. I have some additional business with her anyway."

Zeref had been looking down at the envelope, but at her last words, he jerked around to look back at the battle. Natsu was busy ripping writhing strips of paper from the badly injured body of a sailor who had practically been cocooned by the vicious things. Most of the crew looked little better, but at least they were all still on their feet and struggling.

 _Her_ , Shelsy had said. Additional business? Wait, Shelsy had seen Amika back in Aulia, hadn't she?

Realization dawned just as a flock of paper snakes swirled together behind Maki, who had a long knife in her hands and was expertly slicing up the paper serpents flying at her face. One moment, the space behind her was a swarm of writhing white and brilliant orange runes. Then Shelsy—or a thing that looked very much like Shelsy—was standing behind her and tilting a small crystal bottle over her head. Zeref wasn't sure if he imagined the shadowy droplet of liquid that fell from the seemingly empty bottle to land in Maki's chestnut hair, and then suddenly, the fortuneteller went lax. Her arms fell to her sides and the knife dropped from her abruptly limp fingers. She didn't look frightened or surprised though. Instead, her eyes had glazed over in a manner that Zeref couldn't quite identify yet struck him as oddly familiar.

"Maki!" Troy shouted again, but he was still several paces away and surrounded by his own private whirlwind of paper serpents.

The copy of Shelsy behind the trader's wife smiled in much the same cold, pleased way that its counterpart upon the water smiled. Then she wrapped her arms around Maki's unresisting form and stepped back, both of them melting away into the fog that billowed forward over the ship's railing to welcome them.

.

"But why?" Troy's voice cracked with anxiety and anger. He made an effort to get up from where he sat against the ship railing nursing his bandaged arm only to fall back again with a grunt, the dizziness from lack of blood getting the better of him. "What could that witch possibly want with my wife?"

Zeref looked away from the trader's tortured gaze, but that left him staring instead at the droplets of blood that splattered the wooden planks. True to her word, Shelsy had called off her paper snakes, and the fog around the ship was beginning to dissipate. Natsu and two of the less injured men had moved the worst of the casualties to the blankets that another sailor had hastily spread on a cleaner section of the deck. A few of the crew members with a bit more medical knowledge had been placed in charge of administering first aid where it was most needed.

"I think... she might want revenge," Zeref said. "Maki and Amika look almost identical. She may have confused them for one another, or she may simply want to get at Amika through her sister."

Perhaps he shouldn't have been so blunt with the truth, Zeref thought when Troy let out a half choked wheeze. The man had to be worried sick, but then that was precisely why Zeref felt he deserved the truth. Lies only ever provided a fleeting illusion of comfort.

"She wants to meet me though," Zeref continued, "so I don't believe that she will kill her."

"Is that what that envelope's about?" Natsu asked, joining them at the side of the ship. He was unhurt, but his vest was stained with ash and other people's blood.

"Yes." Zeref hesitated, glancing at Natsu's face, then added, "She wants me to go alone."

Natsu scowled. "No way."

"Natsu, I think it would be wiser to do as she asks for now. I promise that I will look after myself."

The dragon wizard's scowl only darkened further, but for now, all he said was, "So what's in the envelope?"

Zeref pulled a piece of paper from the envelope in question and unfolded it. The handwriting upon it was flowing and full of elaborate flourishes.

"It says to stop the ship at the next bend in the river. From the western shore, we should be able to see a forest. Once I reach the trees, there will be markers to show me the way. If I'm not there at sundown, she won't guarantee the hostage's safety."

"That Incense Wood," Troy spoke up, grasping the ship's railing and heaving himself to his feet. "Will... will you go?"

Wrapped in the question was a plea that the wizards couldn't really well ignore. These people had been trying to help them after all, and they had to deal with this dark wizard sooner or later.

"I will go."

Troy nodded and began calling out orders to his crew, preparing to get the ship back on course. Although he didn't say thank you, his gratitude was obvious on his face.

When the trader was gone, Natsu turned back to Zeref with a glare.

"You're not going without me."

"Natsu, you told me yourself that you aren't supposed to harm humans unless you really have no choice. We might have to kill her, and here, you do have a choice."

Natsu raised an eyebrow at that. "I thought you were really bothered by ending lives."

"It upsets me," Zeref agreed, "but it upsets me also when people are selfish and cruel. I have the feeling that this wizard has already lived more than her fair share of time."

"Her fair share of time," Natsu repeated, frowning. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"That I doubt she is as young as she looks."

Natsu mulled this over for a moment then said grudgingly, "Fine. I'm not happy about it, but you do have a point. Still, I'm only going to wait an hour. After that, I'm following you, and you can't stop me."

"All right."

There was no point in arguing further about this. Besides, if Zeref was really gone for more than an hour, something had very likely gone wrong. That, or the spot where Shelsy wanted to meet him was very, very far into the woods.

Zeref took a deep breath, held it for a moment, then let it out slowly before sitting down against the railing that the trader had just vacated. Natsu sighed and sat down next to him, folding his arms behind his head and watching the crew at their work.

"You sure you can fight all right?" he asked after a moment of silence. "Maki will be there too, remember?"

"I remember." Zeref closed his eyes and rested his head back against the side of the ship. "Please make sure no one disturbs me."

"Yeah, sure, but why?"

"I need some time to put myself in a suitable mindset."

"Which means what exactly?"

"It means that I am schooling myself to think about all this from a purely logical standpoint. We need these people's assistance. It is to our advantage to save her and to get rid of this dark wizard before she can harm us. If I do not become too emotionally involved, my magic will be easier to control. On the other hand, it also means my magic will be weaker. The true power of a wizard's spells comes from the strength of that wizard's emotions. A wizard who feels nothing will never be able to accomplish as much as a wizard who cares."

"I don't like that you have to do this to yourself," Natsu said, the scowl returning to his face. "This is important. People might die. You _should_ care."

"And I do," Zeref replied, lowering his head. "Which is why I need to convince myself that I don't."

"That's messed up."

"I know."

Natsu grunted but said no more, setting himself to making sure that none of the crew wandered too close to them. He didn't care for these kinds of mind games. In that way, humans and human lives were annoyingly complicated.

Natsu glanced sidelong at his companion's face, shadowed by a fall of black bangs. Then again, he had found Zeref himself to be, at heart, a very simple person. So maybe it was human society and the way most people chose to live in it that made everything complicated and convoluted.

.

Maki knew she should be frightened. She sat with her back against the trunk of what had once been a gigantic tree. Most of the tree had been destroyed by fire years ago, but a good section of its base remained, spanning more than five meters in diameter. Maki could smell the old, charred wood like an unpleasantly pungent perfume and feel the rough bark through the thin fabric of her shirt, but she couldn't bring herself to move.

The earth was slightly damp beneath her hands, and she curled her fingers into the dirt, but she couldn't find the strength to do any more than that. The dark wizard was right in front of her, muttering under her breath as she prepared a new batch of paper serpents. The woman hadn't even bothered to tie Maki up.

Part of Maki wanted to laugh at the ridiculousness of this situation, but most of her was just tired. There wasn't any point in running anyway, not really. There was no way she could outrun this wizard and her spells. And so she sat and watched and wondered why she couldn't find it in herself to care that she might very well die here.

* * *

 **TBC...**

* * *

 **.**


	16. The Weight of Despair

**Disclaimer** : I do not own Fairy Tail.

 **Pairing(s)** : eventually Natsu Dragneal x Zeref

 **WARNINGS: violence, alternative history,** **shounan ai (boy/boy pairing); you have been warned so don't like, don't read**

* * *

 **The Will to Live**

 **By V. Shalyr**

* * *

 **16\. The Weight of Despair**

As the sky darkened, the temperature plummeted. Natsu was generally unaffected by changes in the weather, but he could tell that it was supposed to be cold because most of the humans had put on scarves and heavy jackets.

Zeref, on the other hand, had left his new cloak neatly folded on top of his travel bag by the door of the captain's cabin. From where Natsu stood balanced on the ship's railing, he could pick out the slender figure of his companion rapidly vanishing into the trees, his dark hair and clothes making him blend in to the shadows.

 _One hour_ , Natsu thought. He sort of regretted promising to wait that long. Patience was not really one of his virtues.

"Tell me more about these woods," he said, directing his words to the trader captain. "Anything special about them?"

Troy scratched his chin. "Special? Don't know if I'd call it special exactly. Mostly, it's famous because its trees and a lot of its other plants emit very strong and unique smells. That's why it's called Incense Wood. Perfume makers visit the place a lot, and some spice traders too."

Natsu wrinkled his nose. So that was why the breeze around here stank so badly.

In the distance, Zeref paused just beyond the first line of trees then turned and headed left.

"Any kind of path to the left?" Natsu asked. "He just went that way."

"You can still see him from here?" Troy asked, astonished.

"Yeah, I'm a Dragon Slayer, remember? My senses are better than a human's."

Troy shook his head. "Magic can do some amazing things."

Natsu didn't comment. It wasn't magic, but he didn't feel like trying to explain.

"I don't believe there is a path that leads left," Troy continued after a moment's thought. "There was a wildfire here awhile back, and large parts of the forest were badly damaged. Many of the routes through the area were closed off and never reopened since no one's had the time or resources to clear those paths of debris."

Right. Of course the dark wizard wouldn't stick to the regular roads.

Natsu folded his arms across his chest and made a mental note of the direction in which Zeref had disappeared.

 _Fifty-six minutes_.

.

The thin sliver of paper flitted through the air in front of Zeref like a lopsided and rather ugly firefly, its body glimmering with tiny orange lights. He followed it at a distance, picking his way carefully over fallen branches and around unruly patches of tangled vegetation. He had called up a light of his own to illuminate his way, a point of cool golden radiance that hung suspended above his open palm.

All around him, Zeref could sense traces of the same magic that animated his guide, resting amidst leafy branches and draped amidst the brambles. In his head, he imagined that the place was full of snakes, the orange markings upon them temporarily quiescent as they watched him pass. A wild forest in the middle of the night was a good place to conceal a paper army. He wondered what Shelsy intended to do with them, or if all those dormant spells were just a precaution.

Well, she wasn't taking him lightly anyway, that was for sure. Zeref had the feeling he knew what she wanted to talk about.

The only thing that concerned him was what had been in those crystal bottles. Some kind of paralysis magic?

 _Forty-five minutes_.

Shelsy had made her camp in the middle of a burnt out clearing before the remains of what had once been a giant of a tree. A small fire burned in front of her stooped figure, and she was feeding additional leaves and twigs into it as he approached. For its size, the flames were generating an inordinate amount of smoke, and the smell of it was a sickening combination of sweet and bitter.

Zeref lingered amidst the trees, surveying the situation. Maki was sitting propped against the giant tree trunk a decent distance beyond the campfire. She didn't appear to be unconscious, although she wasn't moving or making any attempt to escape either. Even if Zeref distracted the other wizard, it didn't seem as though Maki would be able to run. He really did have to be careful then, and to be safe, he should keep as much distance between them as possible.

"So you did as I asked after all," Shelsy spoke up suddenly, breaking into his thoughts. "Not that it matters, I suppose. I've taken measures to make sure your Dragon Slayer friend won't be able to track us down too easily. It's difficult to fool a Dragon Slayer's nose, but it's not impossible. You learn a great deal, living for as long as I have. Or should I say as "we" have?"

Shelsy straightened and met his gaze over the flames, her eyes glittering with curiosity. "You're a little like me, aren't you? You _look_ young, but you're not."

Zeref met her gaze with a cold stare.

"The sailor who fell ill," he said, "I assume that's your doing."

Shelsy laughed, sweeping an elegant hand through her gleaming black locks. "Most men are ridiculously easy. Some women too. A few soft words and a smile, maybe a dance, and they don't even notice if I skim off a few years."

"That doesn't mean that it's okay."

Shelsy shrugged, gaze never leaving his face. "If they knew how, plenty of people would do the same. Who wouldn't want to stay young and beautiful for a while longer? Of course, judging from your reaction, you do things differently."

"You want to know why I haven't aged."

"That's right." Her lips curled in a smile that did not reach her eyes. "It's hard work, keeping myself in such good shape. If there was an easier way, I'm all ears."

"Knowing wouldn't do you any good," he said.

There was the quietest flicker of a spell on the edges of his consciousness, but he was prepared for that. Zeref was used to other wizards trying to read his mind and shielding his own thoughts and memories from such invasions was second nature.

The tiniest of frowns crossed Shelsy's face, but she smoothed it away almost at once.

"No? Then how about this." She inclined her head towards Maki, but didn't turn to look at her. "You tell me what I want to know, and I won't take any of her years in payment for my troubles. Or you could give me some of your time instead. You look like you have plenty to spare. I wonder how much longer that would give me?"

The corners of Zeref's mouth tugged downward in grim disdain.

"I'm not here to bargain," he said. The mage light he had been using faded and was replaced by wisps of gathering shadow. "I can't do anything about the lives you've already taken, but I can stop you from taking any more."

Her gaze grew incredulous and she laughed. "So you came to kill me? Really? Now that _is_ unexpected, but I suppose it makes things easier. That just means I'll get both your years and hers. Just try not to die too soon. I've got no use for corpses."

Her last words were nearly lost in the rustling cascade of paper tags that whirled out of the darkness amidst the trees. They swarmed towards Zeref only to burst into flame just before they could reach him. Burning fragments fell like dead leaves to the earth around him, but he didn't shift his gaze to watch them. On his way here, he had woven a fire spell around himself like a shield. He'd gotten the idea from watching Natsu fight and was unsurprised by its effectiveness.

The smile faded from Shelsy's face and her eyes narrowed.

"So you can use Fire Magic too."

Zeref lifted the crackling black energy in his hand. "I can use a lot more than just Fire Magic. I will say this once. Either you turn yourself back in to the Rune Knights, or you die here."

Shelsy sneered—anger, hate, and scorn twisting her delicate features into something ugly.

"Don't mock me," she hissed. "I haven't lived this long to let one self-righteous wizard decide my future."

Zeref had expected as much. At least she couldn't say she hadn't been warned.

The first sphere of black energy struck a wave of paper serpents and vaporized them, showering the ground with dust. Every spell he threw at her cut large swaths through her defenses, even those paper tags that she had reinforced with magic against decay and fire. Shelsy's eyes widened a fraction, but she'd walked the earth for too long to let such a thing surprise her. So maybe the boy who was not really a boy had more destructive magic than she had predicted. That was all right. It wasn't the first time she had fought someone more powerful than her.

.

 _Thirty-six minutes_.

Natsu's eyebrow twitched. They were fighting, he could sense it, and—damn it, but he wanted to be there. Did he really have to wait the entire hour?

The dragon wizard shifted his weight restlessly from foot to foot. Now that he thought about it, an entire hour did seem rather long. So much could happen in just one hour.

He knew that Igneal thought they should interfere as little as possible in human lives, but Natsu currently looked like a human, so where did that put him in all of this? There was no telling how long it might take for him to break this curse. As long as he was stuck living as a human, didn't that mean he kind of had the right to be involved?

 _Thirty-four minutes_.

If something like this happened again, there was no way Natsu was promising more than half an hour.

.

Zeref had expected that he would have to lure his opponent away from Maki, but to his surprise, Shelsy was the one who left the clearing first, vanishing in a whirl of paper and orange light. Zeref dismissed the power he had gathered in his hand and took a moment to scan the area, sorting through all the traces of magic amidst the trees for his enemy.

Why had she moved? It had to be a trap, but what kind?

Oh well, no matter. He would deal with it when he found out. Being immortal had sort of desensitized him to danger.

It was probably a good thing that Natsu wasn't here, a small voice in the back of his mind mused. Zeref's tendency to be careless with his own wellbeing would probably drive the dragon crazy. For some reason, this thought made him feel warm, and so he quickly shoved it away. He couldn't afford such feelings right now.

Zeref finally caught up with his opponent beside a narrow stream. She stood facing him, ankle-deep in the shallow water, and she held a small crystal bottle in her hands. Zeref kept one eye on that bottle while he threw up the barrier spell he'd been putting together while he tracked her magical signature, blocking off any further chances of escape.

Shelsy's gaze flickered to the side when the barrier spell flared into life, stenciled upon the air between her and the trees, but she didn't allow that to distract her. Instead, she pulled the stopper from the bottle and poured its contents out in an arc before her. The ghostly liquid splashed across the ground and into the river, trickling outward across the dirt and up along the trunks of nearby trees. Zeref glanced down at it, more curious than startled. It didn't appear to be a paralysis spell after all, since he'd prepared a counter spell for that. So what—?

The effects hit him like a heavy fist in the gut, and he stopped breathing for a moment. All the colors faded out of the world around him, and even the gurgle of the stream seemed to go nearly silent. Had the night been this cold before? His hands felt numb, and even the air seemed too heavy.

He... knew this feeling.

So that was what was in those bottles. Huh, he wouldn't have thought of that.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Shelsy grit her teeth, the hand holding the bottle clenching so tightly that the knuckles turned white. She'd infected the entire area rather than trying to target him specifically, so she was dealing with the effects too—except that he could see the water of the stream carrying away wisps of translucent gray substance from about her feet. She would probably be free of it in a matter of minutes thanks to the current.

"I see," he said, more to himself than to her. "I suppose most people would find it difficult to put up much of a resistance this way."

Shelsy laughed, although it sounded more like she was being strangled. "I was surprised to find these on that ship. I knew the wizard who made them, you know, about fifty years ago now. He was a miserable, spiteful soul by then. How does the saying go? Misery loves company."

And leave it to a wizard to find a way to bottle up that despair so that it could be spread around.

"It's not a bad plan," Zeref replied after a moment, "but unfortunately for you, you miscalculated."

"What?" Shelsy narrowed her eyes. The intensity of the emotion was wearing off for her, and she was standing straighter.

She would be ready to start her own attack again soon, Zeref thought. But it wouldn't do her any good.

"It was a good plan," he repeated, the shadows about his feet beginning to stir, "but I'm far too familiar with this feeling. True despair... is not something that mere magic can recreate."

.

 _Eleven minute_.

Right, Natsu was done with waiting. He'd been plenty patient already, and anyway, he was almost certain the fighting had stopped more than ten minutes ago.

He jumped down from the railing and headed for the gangplank.

"Wait!" Troy called out, hurrying after him. "Can—can I come with you?"

Natsu started to saythat he didn't think that was a good idea,but changed his mind partway. It was Troy's wife that was really in danger here, and if no one was fighting anymore, then it was probably safe... More or less.

"All right," he said, "but if I tell you to run or something, do it. It's for your own good."

Troy nodded and grabbed an oil lamp from the deck by where the more seriously injured crew members were still resting. "Of course."

Walking into these woods was exactly like walking into a perfume and incense shop. The air was saturated with sweet and smoky scents. The dark wizard was seriously underestimating his tracking skills, however, if she thought this would make it impossible for Natsu to follow them. It wasn't easy to pick out one scent from the chaotic mess of smells, but Natsu had hunted for his own meals since he was old enough to fly. Tracking the scent of someone he had been traveling with for weeks was child's play.

They found Maki first. Troy ran forward the moment they spotted her, and Natsu didn't stop him. The dragon could tell that neither Zeref nor the dark wizard were in the clearing, although there was a small campfire that was emitting a large amount of foul smelling smoke. The trees along the edges of the clearing looked rather the worse for wear. Most of their leaves hung in tattered shreds and broken branches littered a ground that was streaked with pale dust.

Certain that the trader would look after Maki, the dragon turned his attention to locating his friend. He could smell death on the wind mixed in with everything else, so it was probably better that neither of the humans followed him anyway.

Natsu spotted the dead trees before he saw the wizard responsible. Zeref sat on the bank of a stream with his head down. Despite the darkness, Natsu could pick out traces of black mist still lingering in the air. It wasn't the first time he had seen the dark-haired wizard like this, and he was fairly sure that it wouldn't be the last.

.

That presence.

 _Natsu_.

Zeref jerked his head up, turning towards the approaching wizard.

"Stay back! Don't—don't come any closer."

There weren't any leaves left on the trees around him to block out the sky, and his eyes had mostly adjusted to the dim illumination from the moon—enough so that he could see Natsu pause several paces away.

Natsu said nothing, but his mouth was set in a hard, grim line. Instead of bothering with Zeref's warning, he took a step forward and then another. When he reached the outer wisps of shadowy magic, he held out his hand, waving it through the black mist.

Zeref stared in open horror, waiting for the arm to begin withering or experiencing decay. He expected the hand to become something skeletal, something worn out and dead. But... there was nothing. Natsu walked through the fog of black magic and sat down next to him, taking Zeref's hand and lacing their fingers together.

"I told you that I would be all right," Natsu told him. "You had to learn to believe me sooner or later."

Zeref stared down at their fingers, still in shock, but the hand holding his felt as real and ordinary as it appeared. He was not hallucinating.

"You... really aren't affected by it?"

"That's right. So stop freaking out around me, all right? Let me help you with this. You don't have to do everything alone."

Natsu smelled his tears before he saw them.

"If Maki or any of the others had been killed," Zeref said quietly, "it would have been our fault because they chose to help us even though they didn't have to."

"Yeah."

"Yet none of them blame us for what happened. And they've chosen to keep on helping us. They told us before I left the ship that we're expected back onboard by morning."

"I know."

The two of them fell silent.

"Natsu..."

"What?"

"Thank you."

"For what?"

"For caring enough to worry."

Natsu sighed and rubbed his thumb along the underside of Zeref's wrist. The boy had relaxed, but Natsu could feel him shivering now that everything had settled down. The night really was quite cold.

"Idiot, you should have brought your cloak."

"You got it for me, and we still have a long way to travel. I didn't want to fight in it."

Speaking of fighting, Natsu inclined his head towards a spot partway down the stream. "Is that her? I was expecting... more remains."

The only things left of the dark wizard now were a scattering of worn, bleached bones that looked as though they had been lying in the stream for decades.

"I did say that she has lived more than her share of lifetimes," Zeref said. "She was stealing other people's lives to prolong her own. I suppose that was part of her arrangement with the villagers too. Judging from the state of those bones, I think she might even have been older than me."

"Older than you, huh?" Natsu's mouth quirked, some of his earlier seriousness evaporating. "You make it sound like something strange. I've known plenty of people older than you."

Zeref's brow furrowed. "You're a dragon, and most of the people you know are probably dragons too. That doesn't count."

"Why not?"

Zeref opened his mouth then shut it again. Why couldn't it count?

"I don't know," he said finally. "It just seems as though it ought to be different."

Which was, Zeref had to admit, a pretty terrible answer. Sometimes, it seemed as though humans spent most of their time drawing lines in the sand, never realizing how easily those lines could be erased or how little those lines really meant.

After another moment's thought, Zeref added, "No, you're right. It should count."

And it was strange to suddenly realize—really, truly realize—that this person sitting next to him was not going to simply disappear in a hundred years or so. He... really wasn't alone anymore.

* * *

 **TBC...**

* * *

 **AN:** Whew, okay, so that basically lays out the groundwork I wanted for relationship building:) So I'll be taking the "eventually" out of the pair label at the top starting next chapter (just a note).

 **.**


	17. Small Changes

**Disclaimer** : I do not own Fairy Tail.

 **Pairing(s)** : Natsu Dragneal x Zeref

 **WARNINGS: violence, alternative history,** **shounan ai (boy/boy pairing); you have been warned so don't like, don't read**

* * *

 **The Will to Live**

 **By V. Shalyr**

* * *

 **17\. Small Changes**

The four crystal bottles stood in a neat row upon the tabletop. They appeared to be empty, but the four people gathered around the table in the captain's cabin knew better.

"I had no idea that it was possible to put emotions into bottles," Maki said, rubbing at the goose bumps on her arms. Remembering that all-consuming despair still made her skin crawl, and she was just glad that the effects had worn off. She never wanted to feel that way again.

Her husband shook his head. "Like I've always said, it's incredible what magic can do."

"Terrible might be a better word," Maki replied. "Judging by the design of the stoppers, I assume this one's despair, that one's grief, and the others are anger and fear. At least that's what those masks tend to represent in theatre performances. We should probably destroy them. I can't imagine any good coming out of keeping them."

"I agree," Zeref said, reaching for the teapot to refill his cup.

The warm tea was making him drowsy, but the act of drinking it was keeping him awake. He and Natsu had slept in the woods the night before, but he was still tired despite the break. Yesterday had been stressful, and even though he had been angered by the dark wizard's actions, faced with the bones in the river, he couldn't help but wonder if he had really had the right to kill her. Considering Shelsy's goals, he supposed his own actions could loosely be construed as self defense. But still, who was he to judge whether another wizard had the right to live or die? After all, wasn't that what Shelsy had done too? Decided when other people would live or die? What made his decisions any more right or valid than hers?

" _You did the right thing_ ," Natsu had told him after listening to these thoughts. " _She would have hurt a lot more people if you hadn't, and anyway, she was trying to kill you. Just because you know she couldn't have done it doesn't make it less self defense. The fact that you're thinking this way at all is what makes you different from her_."

Zeref supposed that that was one way of thinking about it, although at the same time, how much could you really differentiate between a person's motives and a person's actions?

Maki sighed. "I suppose miserable people do sometimes get annoyed when other people aren't miserable. I'm not surprised that someone decided to make these."

"That's just stupid," Natsu said after wolfing down half the plate of bacon that the ship's chef had prepared for them. "If the guy was so miserable and he had the power to bottle up emotions, why didn't he just bottle up some happiness for himself? Seems like it would have been a better use of his time."

The humans around the table considered this and had to concede that it was a very good point.

"I suppose," Zeref said slowly, "that it's because magic can only do so much. If you know it's magic or if you've ever felt the real thing, you can tell that the emotions aren't real."

"I'm guessing we shouldn't just throw them into the sea with my uncle's wardrobe?" Troy said, the statement lilting up into a question as he looked at the two wizards.

"No," Zeref said. He glanced at Natsu, who nodded, then added, "But we could probably destroy them for you."

"If it would be a lot of trouble..." Maki started.

But Natsu interrupted her with a grin, "It's no trouble at all. I'm really good at destroying things, even things that have been enchanted. We'll just take those with us when we go and get rid of them once we're far enough away from your ship."

"So the two of you are sure you don't want to travel with us awhile longer?" Troy asked.

"Yeah, we're grateful for the help, but we talked it over and decided that it would be better to skip the next couple towns."

As Natsu said this, Zeref took out their map and showed it to the trader and his wife.

"It looks like Incense Wood covers a good section of the western riverbank. We thought we'd run into fewer people if we took a detour through there and returned to the river at Sage Town."

"But isn't that kind of out of your way?" Troy asked, measuring the distance with his eyes. "If you're headed to the mountains, sticking to the main road will save you weeks of travel time. Those woods can be really tough going."

Natsu shrugged. "We know, and it's not a problem."

In truth, neither wizard felt in a hurry anymore. What was a few more weeks in the grand scheme of things?

Maki leaned over the table to examine the map as well. "In that case, Sage Town is a good choice if you plan to cross Eden Lake. A lot of cruise ships that take tourists around the lake set sail from there. Actually, sailing's the only easy way around that area. Large sections of the lake shore are rocky and rather mazelike. Did Troy tell you about the shipwright who built this ship for us?"

"He did," Natsu said, although he hadn't been listening and honestly couldn't remember a word of it.

"Well, his name is Remi, and he does a lot of work with cruise ships. We'll write a reference letter for you—in case you need a ship to hide on. He's very skilled with spells for safe journeys, including spells for concealment."

Zeref wasn't sure if they would need such a reference letter, but all the same, he said, "Thank you. We would appreciate it."

.

They left the trader's ship by noon, taking the bottles of negative emotions with them along with a list of plants that Troy had told them could be found only in Incense Wood and sold at decent prices once they got to Sage Town. From the edge of the trees, they watched the colorful vessel grow smaller and smaller as it sailed away. Since the wizards were no longer onboard, the ship's crew had slowed its pace considerably, so it would be awhile before it actually vanished from view.

"Ready to go?" Natsu asked, turning away from the sight and inspecting the path that the trader had suggested they follow. Supposedly, it wasn't used much by visitors to the woods anymore, but it was still in relatively good condition.

"I am." Zeref shifted his travel pack on his shoulders and pulled the hood of his cloak up over his head.

But first, they chose a patch of dirt relatively free of vegetation, and Natsu destroyed the crystal bottles and their contents. The blackened earth would probably not be the same for quite some time, but that was a small price to pay for getting rid of something so hazardous.

All in all, it wasn't a bad way to get back on the road.

Honestly, it was nice to be traveling alone together again. They would enjoy it while it lasted.

.

Seen by the light of day, Incense Wood turned out to be unexpectedly beautiful, due in no small measure to its wide variety of unusual plants. Even though it was early summer, most of the foliage had taken on autumn shades of red, orange, gold, and a dark greenish purple that, together, made Zeref think of sunsets and late afternoon skies.

"You're getting poetic on me," Natsu said, amused. "This place might look special, but it smells awful."

"Does it?" Zeref asked, consulting the book that Maki and her husband had given them. "It says here that the unique fragrances of many of these plants are very popular. People make perfumes, incense, and scented candles out of them. In fact, it's not just the plants here that are famous for unique smells.

"Yeah? Like what?"

Zeref turned a page and answered, "Well, like this ferret-like creature. Its fur is supposed to smell like oranges. Apparently, people like to use its coat to make scarves and line winter coats."

Natsu snorted. "I'm more interested in what it tastes like."

Zeref scanned the text next to the sketch then turned another page. "I... don't think there's any information about taste. Although that probably means that it's not worth eating."

"Not worth eating, huh? Guess we'll find out for ourselves if we meet one."

Zeref lowered the book, bemused. He had the feeling that the fate of any animal that ran into them in these woods was to be eaten by Natsu.

Or, as it turned out, to be eaten by both of them.

Zeref had just settled down for the evening in the clearing where they had decided to make camp that first night when something large, furry, and most definitely dead was dropped in front of him. The pale gold, ferret-like animal was almost as large as a mountain lion, and it stared balefully at him through glazed, unseeing eyes. Zeref stared back, startled and maybe just a bit disturbed.

"Natsu...?"

"Eat with me."

"But I'm..." Zeref glanced up at his companion's face and trailed off, unsure how he was supposed to interpret the look Natsu was giving him. It was a searching, intense, calculating sort of expression, and somehow, Zeref was seized by the inexplicable feeling that declining would be the wrong thing to do. He didn't understand it, but somehow, he felt that it would be a mistake. So instead of explaining that he really wasn't hungry like he would have in the past, Zeref found himself saying simply, "Okay."

Natsu appeared satisfied with this response and set about skinning his catch while Zeref built up the campfire.

The creature did— _not_ —taste like oranges.

This puzzling routine continued—with the spotted doe the day after, the fluffy flying squirrel creature that Zeref sort of wished Natsu hadn't killed, and the many-legged lizard thing that Zeref really, really didn't want to try but turned out to be unexpectedly tasty. After he expressed this opinion, they had many-legged lizard a lot, and he was accumulating a respectable number of the lizards' silver-white teeth, which the book claimed was highly prized by jewelers. Why anyone would want to wear jewelry made from lots of teeth, Zeref had no idea, but it meant they ought to be able to exchange them for a decent amount of coin when they ended up back in civilization.

After two weeks of this, Zeref began to get used to it, although he still occasionally got the feeling that Natsu was trying to tell him something that he wasn't understanding. Zeref wondered now and then if he should ask Natsu to explain himself, but since the dragon didn't seem particularly bothered by his lack of comprehension, he never quite got around to it. He was too content with the way things were to start questioning it.

It wasn't until halfway through their third week in the woods that they ran into any other travelers.

"Help! Somebody, help!"

The shouts grew louder and louder until a man came pelting down the forest path past them in a whirl of waving arms and flapping sleeves, then grew softer and softer again as the man disappeared from view. The wizards barely had time to exchange confused looks when a massive, dark brown bear came roaring down the path after the stranger. When it saw them, it reared up onto its hind legs and bellowed, displaying glistening rows of sharp, white teeth. Natsu growled back, baring his own fangs, and the bear fell silent, startled. It shut its mouth and eyed the two new comers warily as though trying to determine if it was angry enough to keep going. Its black eyes moved from Natsu to Zeref then back to Natsu, at which point it appeared to decide that attacking them would be a bad idea. It fell back onto all fours and turned, padding quietly off back along the path and into the trees.

"Well, that was weird," Natsu said after he was sure the bear had truly gone.

"I wonder if he knows the bear has stopped chasing him," Zeref said, glancing back over his shoulder in the direction that the stranger had gone.

"Don't know. He didn't seem hurt though, so he'll probably be okay."

Natsu had no sooner said this when there was another burst of yelling in the distance. The wizards exchanged bemused looks before turning around and heading back the way they had come to investigate.

They found the stranger clinging to the bough of a tree while an angry, many-legged lizard snapped at his ankles. The moment the gray-blue lizard spotted Natsu, it hissed and sped into the underbrush, vanishing with a flick of its long, tapered tail.

"Are you all right?" Zeref asked, calling up to the man in the tree.

Blue eyes peered down at them from behind rectangular spectacles. "Is it gone?"

Natsu answered him, "Yeah, it's gone. Pity. Haven't seen one that big in days."

"Thank goodness," the man said with a relieved sigh. "I was afraid it was going to take a bite out of me. My sincere gratitude for scaring it off."

Carefully, the man climbed down to the ground and brushed a few leaves from his long, rust red coat. A boxy contraption hung from a cloth strap around his neck, and he checked this over diligently before returning his attention to his rescuers. Straightening, he adjusted his spectacles on his thin nose and smiled at them.

"I'm so glad to meet other people in these woods. You wouldn't believe how long it's been since I've spoken to another human being. This is wonderful! Maybe you'll be able to help me find what I'm looking for. Are you very familiar with this forest? I've been lost in here for days. Have you ever heard of the Midnight Garden?"

Natsu raised an eyebrow and Zeref sighed. It looked like their peace and quiet was about to be placed on hold.

.

Xander couldn't have been happier. He'd been wandering aimlessly through Incense Wood for what felt like forever, and he didn't have forever to waste here.

"I'm looking for a place called the Midnight Garden," he told the two strangers who had rescued him from the strange lizard with too many legs. "It's a garden that blooms only once a month by the light of a full moon, and only for one minute. It'll be full moon tomorrow! I have to find a flying squirrel by then."

"Why?" the dark-haired wizard asked, puzzled by this leap in reasoning.

"Flying squirrels supposedly make their home in that garden," Xander explained. "My grandmother told me that when she and Grandfather came looking for the Midnight Garden, they found it by following a flying squirrel."

"You mean the really fluffy, silver ones?" the other wizard asked.

"That's it!" Xander exclaimed excitedly. "Does that mean you've seen one?"

"Uh, yeah... We ate it."

"You... what?"

"Ate it," the wild-haired wizard repeated. "It was a bit stringy, but not too bad."

Okay, so maybe Xander wasn't so happy after all.

He was even less happy when the two wizards produced a fluffy, silver squirrel skin from their packs. Xander was a strict vegetarian for a reason.

"I could probably track one down for you," the wild-haired wizard said after a brief reexamination of the silver pelt. "If you're in that much of a hurry."

Xander opened then shut his mouth. He looked at the animal skin and thought of the poor creature it had once belonged to. Then he thought of his grandmother, who was bedridden and yearning for a sight of the place where she had fallen in love.

"If you would," he said, "I'd be eternally grateful."

* * *

 **TBC...**

* * *

 **.**


	18. The Midnight Garden

**Disclaimer** : I do not own Fairy Tail.

 **Pairing(s)** : Natsu Dragneal x Zeref

 **WARNINGS: violence, alternative history,** **shounan ai (boy/boy pairing); you have been warned so don't like, don't read**

* * *

 **The Will to Live**

 **By V. Shalyr**

* * *

 **18\. The Midnight Garden**

"My grandmother used to tell me the story all the time when I was a child," Xander said from his seat on the opposite side of the campfire. "My parents passed away when I was quite young, you see, so she basically raised me along with my grandfather."

Natsu settled back against a tree to listen, although he was more focused on watching Zeref than inspecting their new traveling companion. Zeref had seated himself as far as the clearing allowed from Xander, and Natsu had chosen a spot next to him close enough to touch. The dragon was pleased to note that Zeref no longer shied away from him. The realization that Natsu really wasn't at risk from his magic plus two weeks of Natsu deliberately _not_ keeping his distance, and Zeref's constant, anxious wariness seemed to have mostly dissolved. That was good, because the tentative plans that Natsu was laying for the future would never work if Zeref was constantly in danger of becoming a nervous wreck just because Natsu got too close to him.

"When my grandmother was young, she dreamed of becoming a painter. But paints are expensive and she knew her parents couldn't really afford to keep buying them for her, so she found ways to make her own. Incense Wood was where she gathered most of her materials."

Xander sighed and fidgeted with the box-like contraption hanging before his chest. "She always hoped that I'd turn out to be a painter too, but I've got no talent for it... Anyway, my grandfather was an apprentice at a perfume maker's, and they ended up meeting here when he was sent to find supplies. It turned out that even though they both loved it here, neither of them were brave enough to really explore this place alone. They were also both, ah, kind of unlucky, which didn't really help."

Natsu recalled how Xander had raced past them earlier in a screaming blur of limbs and fabric with a furious bear in hot pursuit and suppressed a snort. If the young man's grandparents were anything like him, then that wasn't too hard to imagine.

"When Grandmother turned twenty-one, a huge earthquake hit our town. Both her parents were killed. She was so upset that she ran into these woods and forgot to pay attention to where she was actually going. And, well, you've seen how vast Incense Wood is and how peculiar its animals and plants can be. She got lost. When she still hadn't returned after three days, Grandfather—although, of course, he wasn't my grandfather yet at the time—came looking for her. It was lucky he did, because it turned out that she'd twisted her ankle running from a citrus ferret."

Both wizards thought of the pale golden ferret pelt in their packs. The animal hadn't tasted too bad, although not all that great either. A little bit too tough with a strangely smoky undertone.

Xander continued, oblivious to their musings. "Grandfather's not, ah, really that athletic, and Grandmother's not exactly, ah, delicate. But he refused to leave her on her own to go back for help. It took them forever to make it back to town, and they got lost several times on the way too. That was when they saw it. The flying squirrels, I mean, and the garden."

Xander sighed. "Grandmother said that it was like a miracle, all those flowers suddenly blooming in the darkness like a sea of stars for them to wish upon. Up until that point, she didn't think she'd be able to keep on living in a town that held so many memories for her. But seeing that garden, it made her fall in love with the world again."

"That doesn't explain why you're looking for this mysterious garden," Natsu pointed out.

Xander dropped his gaze to the mossy ground in front of him. "My grandfather... he passed away recently, and Grandmother's been sick ever since. I'm... hoping that if I can bring back a picture of that garden for her, she'll get better. I know it's kind of a long shot, but... it's all I can think of now. The doctors said that she's just been so depressed, and that's why she's not getting any better. I want to remind her of when she made the choice to keep on going, of a moment when she was happy. I mean, she's still got me, right?"

Neither wizard commented on this. It might be a long shot, but it wasn't totally illogical. And anyway, they could hear the desperation that had crept into the young man's voice.

Zeref turned a page of the book open across his lap, dividing his attention between the text and Xander. After a moment, he gestured at the device in Xander's hands.

"What is that? I can sense magic in it."

"Oh, this?" Xander lifted the box a little. "A friend of mine is working on developing them. I'm what she calls a photographer. This picture box lets me copy images of things I see onto this specially treated paper."

Xander opened the satchel he had been carrying and showed them the stack of paper inside.

"I'm nowhere near the artist my grandmother is, but this way, I don't have to be."

Since she couldn't go to the garden, he would bring the garden to her.

.

"So what do you think?"

Zeref shut his book and asked, "Of what?"

The campfire had burned down to mere embers, and Xander had long since fallen asleep on his side of the clearing, facing away from them.

"Of the garden he's looking for. Do you think it's real?"

Zeref glanced at the thin young man on the other side of the fire and said, "I don't know, but I hope so. If it does exist, it must be a spectacular sight."

He gave a start when Natsu suddenly reached out and brushed a lock of dark hair out of his face.

"Natsu?"

For a second, there was a strange intensity in the dragon's eyes that sent an odd tingle up his spine, but the look was gone so quickly that Zeref didn't have time to really think about it. Maybe he'd imagined it.

"I was just thinking that it's kind of funny that humans have hair," Natsu said.

Zeref's brow furrowed. "Why?"

"Because dragons don't have hair."

"Oh." Well, that was certainly true. Although, for the first time since they had begun traveling together, Zeref had the feeling that the dragon wizard wasn't telling him everything.

"So," Natsu said, changing the subject, "what was all that about stars to wish upon? Is that some kind of human custom?"

"More of a human superstition," Zeref replied, weighing the closed book absentmindedly in his hands. "Some people think that if you make a wish on a shooting star, it'll come true. Of course, if it was that easy to grant our wishes, this world would be a very different place."

"A better one?" Natsu asked, curious.

Zeref hesitated then said, "No. What people want and what's good for them are often not the same thing. And to be honest, I think we often don't know what we really want. It's too easy to make wishes without thinking them through and without really understanding ourselves. Then there are some wishes that are best remaining as just wishes."

The Black Wizard sighed softly then asked, "Are you sure you can find one of those squirrels for him? We haven't seen any after that first one."

Natsu shrugged. "We haven't seen any, but I've smelled them around. They seem to really like those purple trees we run across now and then. If we find some of those first, it should be no problem. Those trees give off a pretty distinctive odor themselves, so it shouldn't be that hard."

"I see. I suppose that shouldn't be too difficult."

Hopefully, the photographer wouldn't be disappointed.

"Oh, by the way, Natsu, I think we may want to stick with eating the provisions we already have for the time being. He seems... distressed by the prospect of hunting."

Natsu snorted. "Yeah, I noticed. Not sure how anyone survives by just eating vegetables, but fine."

"Vegetables are very important. They're good for you."

"Yeah, well, I'm a carnivore, thank you very much."

"Who likes to eat chocolate cake."

"There is that," Natsu conceded. "I didn't say other foods were bad, I just think meat is an important part of my diet."

The corners of Zeref's mouth twitched upward into a faint smile. "Actually, I have heard that eating only vegetables can, in fact, be bad for people if they're not smart about it."

"See?" Natsu looked smug. "So I was right."

There was a pause then Natsu added, "You planning to sleep at all tonight?"

Zeref glanced back at the third occupant of the clearing and sighed. "No."

"Thought you might say that." Natsu shook his head but didn't try to persuade him otherwise, saying instead, "Tell me a bit more about these human superstitions, will you? Most of the ones I know are about what's bad luck."

"My knowledge might be a little out of date," Zeref said.

"That's okay. It's still interesting."

Besides, talking would help keep them both awake.

.

The next morning found the three travelers making their way carefully through the trees away from the main path. It turned out that a great many of the plants in these woods were edible, and Xander was a walking encyclopedia on the subject. Unfortunately, he seemed to care a lot more about nutrition than flavor.

Breakfast had been punctuated by snatches of conversation that ran something like, " _This bluish green grass is full of vitamins and often used in salads."_

" _It tastes like grass."_

" _Well, yes, I suppose it does, but it does wonders for a person's digestive system."_

" _It still tastes like grass."_

The sun had already passed its zenith when Natsu pointed out a silver fluff ball perched amidst the uppermost branches of a tree. The creature was about the size of a fat rabbit, although most of that mass was its loose, soft fur.

"Get ready to run," Natsu said as they approached. Sure enough, the moment they came within ten paces of the tree, the squirrel took off.

Natsu bolted after it, and the other two followed, struggling not to lose sight of him. By the time they finally caught up with him, the dragon wizard already had the flying squirrel in his hands. The poor animal was stiff with terror, its dark eyes wide and its whiskers quivering.

"Don't hurt it!" Xander cried, rushing forward.

Natsu rolled his eyes and shoved the animal into the photographer's arms. "I wasn't going to."

The fluffy bundle didn't struggle, just turned its head to keep its stare on Natsu as Xander gently stroked the top of its head and back.

"I'm so sorry," the man said softly to it, cradling it like he might a baby. "We don't mean you any harm. Please don't be frightened."

Zeref touched Natsu's arm and said, "Perhaps we should move back."

"Why? I already promised not to hurt it."

"I think that your expression may lack conviction."

That was a bit of an understatement really. Zeref rather thought that his friend was looking at the squirrel creature like he was thinking about how little he had eaten so far that day and how much meat was on its bones.

The wizards wandered some distance away into the trees then turned to watch Xander coo and fuss over the petrified squirrel creature. Zeref doubted that the creature actually understood a word of what the man said to it, but it could probably sense his sincerity. It took awhile, but eventually, it stopped trembling and relaxed. The wizards saw it peek over the photographer's shoulder at them, but it didn't flee. Instead, it climbed about Xander's arms and shoulders, poking its nose into the many pockets of his rust red coat. It found a handful of red berries that Xander had picked earlier and perched on top of his head like an absurd, silver hat to nibble on them.

"I've been thinking about what you said about the trees with the purple leaves," Zeref said, flipping to a page in the book on Incense Wood and showing it to Natsu. "Do you think it's possible that it's related to this plant?"

"That looks more like a bush than a tree," Natsu said, examining the small ink sketch. Feathery leaves sprouted along the plant's thin branches, dotted here and there with clusters of flowers like tiny stars.

"That's the interesting thing," Zeref said, pointing to a section of the text. "It says that these plants, if carefully cultivated, can be encouraged to grow into many different forms. If left untended, they tend to take on similar characteristics to the plants around them, but can be distinguished by a distinctive, maroon hue to their leaves."

Natsu considered this. "Okay, I can see that. Since this is a forest, it grows into a tree. Is that important?"

"It also says that few people ever get the chance to see their flowers because they bloom only at night and only when there is enough moonlight."

Ah, so that was it. Natsu's expression clear, and he turned to inspect the woods around them.

"So you're thinking that somewhere around here, there's a place with a whole lot of these special plants, and that's where we'll find this garden of his? If that's the case, we don't really need that flying squirrel. The smell of those trees is obvious on the wind around here. It's too bad I don't have my wings. I bet it would be a cinch to spot from the sky. Wait here for a second."

Natsu selected one of the taller trees nearby and, with a running jump, swung himself up into its lower boughs. Zeref watched anxiously as he climbed up towards the top. Most of the branches up there looked far too thin to support a man's weight. Sure enough, the dragon stopped only about two thirds of the way up six meters or so from the ground when a branch snapped in his hand. The sound of Natsu swearing drifted down to Zeref followed shortly by Natsu himself jumping to the forest floor.

"It's no use," he said, plucking bits of bark from his clothes. "I can't get high enough, and there aren't any of those super tall trees we saw before in this area. Guess it'll have to be the squirrel after all."

Zeref looked back at Xander, who was laughing as the creature swished its fluffy tail in front of his face. "If so, I suppose he doesn't need our help anymore."

Taken aback, Natsu frowned and asked, "You don't want to see it? I thought you were curious about the garden too."

Zeref dropped his gaze and fidgeted with the metal clasp of his cloak. "I would like to see it, but—"

Natsu didn't let him finish. "Then we'll stick with him and go see it. We can watch from a distance, just in case."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I mean, it's a garden. I'm sure it'll be just as impressive from afar as it would be up close. Besides, we're already here. It would be ridiculous to just walk away now."

The squirrel danced from Xander's left shoulder to his right shoulder then scurried down to his feet where it paused. It craned its head back so it could peer straight up into the man's eyes, flicked its tail, then darted off. Xander waved at the two wizards, his narrow face bright with excitement, then hurried after the fluffy, silver shape rapidly disappearing amidst the trees.

"Come on." Natsu grabbed Zeref's wrist and started after them. "It's almost evening."

.

It was a good thing that it was flowers and not animals that they were hunting, Natsu thought wryly. With all the noise Xander made crashing through the woods ahead of them, anything with legs would have long since run away. Of course, Xander didn't have the luxury of Natsu's night vision, so it wasn't his fault that he couldn't avoid all the brambles, ferns, and other plants that grew close to the forest floor.

Zeref stayed close to him as they walked. He had made no attempts to pull away, so Natsu was still holding onto him, although he'd shifted his grip from the boy's wrist to his hand. Natsu had never really paid attention before to how different their hands were. Natsu had done almost as much fighting in his human form as he had in his dragon one, and his hands were a map to the battles he had fought and the work that he had done. In contrast, Zeref had the hands of someone who had done very little manual labor, smooth and slender despite the fact that he had lived out in the wilderness for more than a hundred years. They were evidence of his unnatural immortality rather than markers of the kind of life he had lived. Natsu wondered if the rest of him was the same way.

All of a sudden, Xander tripped over something and vanished from view with a yelp. Zeref pressed closer to Natsu, straining to see through the darkness.

"Looks like the ground slopes down really sharply up ahead," Natsu told him, tightening his grip on the other wizard's hand. "I think we've found it, if the smell is anything to go by. Right, stop there."

Zeref stopped. "Is he all right?"

"Don't know." Natsu raised his voice and called down the slope, "Hey, Xander, you all right down there?"

A groan drifted up to them followed by the rustle of leaves and fabric. Xander extracted himself from a bed of knee-high plants and pulled several stray leaves and twigs from his hair.

"Where did the squirrel go?" he called back up to them, which probably meant he wasn't badly hurt.

Natsu scanned the vast clearing sunk into the earth and the trees that lined its sides.

"It's gone."

"Gone?" Xander wailed. "But—but that can't be. There's no more time! What am I going to... going to..."

His voice died down, and there was a sharp intake of breath.

The wizards didn't have to ask why he'd gone quiet.

A little ways in front of the photographer, something had begun to shine. It started as just a glimmer, like a flicker of light reflected upon water, then steadied and grew until it acquired a distinct shape against the dark background of leaves.

The flower glowed as though it had been spun of light, end yet its petals were semitransparent like glass. Xander reached a hand out towards it, but stopped short of actually brushing its shining, translucent form. Atop the slope, the wizards could hear him murmuring to himself in wonder.

"Am I dreaming?"

As though that first ghostly blossom was a signal, the entire clearing began to come alive with light.

.

Zeref had seen many unusual and some amazing things in his life, but even so, the Midnight Garden was, indeed, spectacular. Flowers bloomed in the darkness before them like splotches of glowing paint applied by invisible hands upon a shadowy canvas. White flowers like lilies, glimmering bluebells like clusters of tiny blue lanterns—each unearthly blossom was its own work of art. It wasn't just in the clearing either. Here and there amidst the surrounding forest, shimmering flowers could be seen like stars caught in woven nets of slim, leafy branches.

It seemed that the world could still surprise him after all. Surprise him and take his breath away.

"Now that," Natsu said beside him, "is a garden."

Zeref murmured his agreement, suddenly very aware of the fact that Natsu was still holding his hand. He didn't allow himself to think too much about it though. It was nice, and he didn't want to ruin the moment.

"hey," Natsu said suddenly, "didn't he say that these flowers only bloom for one minute?"

Zeref thought back to what Xander had told them. "He did."

"If he doesn't hurry up then, he won't get his picture."

Zeref glanced down the slope at Xander, who appeared lost in his own private reverie. Natsu was right. If the man stayed frozen, he was going to miss his chance. At the same time, it seemed wrong to disturb him.

Zeref hesitated then asked, "Could you get me one of those papers he has? One of the blank ones."

"Yeah, sure."

Natsu let go of him with some reluctance and made his way down into the sea of flowers. Reaching the photographer's side, he tugged a blank piece of the magically treated paper from the stack peeking out from the man's satchel and returned to hand it to Zeref. The dark-haired wizard took a few careful steps back so he could see more of the garden then sketched a few glimmering symbols in the air that drifted gently down onto the blank page. For a second, the entire paper glowed with a faint, pale light not unlike the glow of the flowers around them. When the light faded, the image left upon the page was that of the Midnight Garden with Xander's standing to one side amidst the blossoms, his back to the viewer.

"Does it matter that he's in the picture?" Natsu asked, examining it over Zeref's shoulder.

The shorter wizard shrugged. "This paper copies what a person sees. I can't avoid seeing him if he doesn't move. In any case, I would imagine that some kind of picture is better than no picture."

"True."

It was too bad that Xander was too preoccupied to take a picture for them too, Zeref thought. Then again, he didn't need a picture to remind himself of this particular memory. A picture wouldn't be able to recreate the smell of cool leaves and damp earth—or the warmth of the arm Natsu had put around his shoulders. Nor would it be able to capture the swell of emotions that rose in his chest and tugged at the back of his throat.

Zeref turned away from the garden when he saw the first flower begin to fade and forced himself to breathe deeply.

"Shall we give him some privacy?" Natsu asked.

Zeref nodded, and they moved away from the edge of the clearing.

"We could just leave now," Natsu added, "but he'd probably get lost looking for the path, and I assume he needs to get back to his grandmother as soon as possible."

Unfortunate, but true.

"Perhaps we should eat the rest of that bread Maki gave us," Zeref said when he felt like the air was flowing freely through his lungs again.

"Good idea. It's not the best bread I've ever had, but it definitely beats eating grass."

Zeref managed a chuckle at that. "The grass _was_ pretty awful."

* * *

 **TBC...**

* * *

 **AN:** Huh, no, I hadn't thought of setting a story in a post Eclipse Gate context like that. I'll let it sit in my mind and see if anything comes of it. Sounds really dark though, and it would probably require a lot of world restructuring.

Thank you for the encouragement, by the way. I'm working hard to keep myself motivated so I can at least finish the stories I have ongoing. I actually post only about half the stories I start since I try not to post anything that I don't feel like I will ever complete. How long I keep writing in this fandom will probably depend on how long my NatsuxZeref obsession lasts:) When I finish this story though, chances are high that the next new, long thing I post is going to be a NatsuxZeref, Fairy Tail/My Hero Academia crossover/fusion. I guess we'll see. _Will to Live_ still has a long way to go.

 **.**


	19. A Gift of Ivory

**Disclaimer** : I do not own Fairy Tail.

 **Pairing(s)** : Natsu Dragneal x Zeref

 **WARNINGS: violence, alternative history,** **shounan ai (boy/boy pairing); you have been warned so don't like, don't read**

* * *

 **The Will to Live**

 **By V. Shalyr**

* * *

 **19\. A Gift of Ivory**

"Are you following us?" Natsu demanded, rounding on the bespectacled photographer. The man had been trailing after them since they'd broken camp that morning, which was when the wizards had expected that they would part ways.

"I am not!" Xander exclaimed, affronted. "This just happens to be my way home."

Natsu scowled, not wanting to believe him. After all, what were the chances of that?

"You never told us where you were from," Zeref said, trying to be more diplomatic. It wasn't the man's fault that they hadn't been expecting company.

Xander sniffed and adjusted his spectacles on the bridge of his nose. "Since you ask, I live in Sage Town. It's the largest town between here and Eden Lake, located just past where the lake feeds into the Glass River."

Right. That was not what Natsu wanted to hear. Unfortunately, he could tell that the human was telling the truth, and there wasn't much they could do about that. They were stuck with him until they got back to civilization.

"Fine," Natsu grumbled. "But don't expect me to go on being a vegetarian just to humor you."

Xander blanched but sighed. "I suppose I should thank you for humoring me this long."

"Yes, you should."

Zeref was starting to get a headache. He hadn't slept at all in two days, the sunlight streaming through the foliage overhead was starting to feel too bright, and Xander was far too talkative. When he wasn't telling the two wizards about his life, he was talking to himself, wondering about his future, his grandmother, and even his own wonderings. To put the ice on the mountain, Zeref thought that the mushrooms he had politely tried some of when Xander offered them that morning were disagreeing with his otherwise empty stomach.

Ugh, he just wanted to lie down under a tree somewhere and close his eyes.

"We're taking a break."

It took several seconds for Natsu's declaration to register through the fog in Zeref's mind. When the words finally made sense to him, he stopped and looked at the dragon wizard, confused.

"But it's not even noon yet."

Natsu didn't reply, just pushed Zeref ahead of him off the path and into the forest. Although he hadn't been invited, Xander trailed after them. The man was saying something about wanting to get home soon, but neither wizard was listening to him. When Natsu judged they were a decent distance from the main path and wouldn't be seen by any passersby, he chose a spot under a large, particularly leafy tree and tugged Zeref down with him.

"Go to sleep," Natsu told him, then directed a glower at Xander. "As for you, either shut up for a few hours or go on ahead without us."

Xander's mouth fell open in surprise, and for a few blessed moments, there was silence except for the twitter of birds in the distance.

Zeref was too glad for the respite to argue.

When Natsu was sure that the boy had dozed off, he fixed his gaze back on Xander and said, "He hasn't slept in two days, and we've been running all over these woods. He needs the rest."

The photographer found his voice again. "Two days? But that's... Why?"

"Because," Natsu said, choosing his words with care, "he has some problems with his magic that could put you in danger. It's especially dangerous when he's just waking up since people have the least control over their own thoughts and emotions then."

"But he could have said—"

"It's not something that it's easy for him to talk about," Natsu said, cutting him off. Catching the guilt on Xander's face, he added, "It's not your fault. It's just the way things are. But if you don't mind, I could use a nap too. It would be best if you went over to that white tree over there. That should be a safe enough distance—if you don't want to continue on by yourself. You might as well take a break too."

Xander dithered for a moment, looking between the two wizards, then closed his mouth, nodded, and walked away in the direction of the tree with the white bark. Natsu waited until he was certain that the photographer wasn't going to turn back, then he settled down and rearranged the wizard sleeping against him so that they were both more comfortable.

.

When Xander reached the white tree, he seated himself gingerly amidst its roots and pulled the picture of the garden out of his satchel to examine for the umpteenth time. To be honest, it had turned out better than he had hoped, and every time he laid eyes on it, he felt an upwelling of gratitude that the wizards had thought to capture the image for him. They had helped him a lot, and all simply because he had asked.

It hadn't occurred to Xander that he might be causing them trouble. All of his attention had been directed towards finding the garden for his grandmother, and he hadn't spared a thought for anything or anyone else. Now that he had the picture in his hands, he was sorry that he hadn't realized it earlier. Hell, he didn't even know the dark-haired wizard's name, and he only knew the wild-haired one was called Natsu because he'd heard the other wizard address him so.

His grandmother would have been disappointed by his lack of manners.

Carefully stowing the picture away once more, Xander glanced back towards the other tree in the distance. He blushed and quickly looked away again. The dark-haired one was curled up against the other wizard's chest with his head resting against the other's shoulder. Natsu had wrapped an arm loosely around him and had his nose in the boy's hair. It was an unexpectedly intimate position, and Xander wondered at how blind he must have been not to have noticed how close they were before.

"I really am an idiot, aren't I?" Xander asked no one in particular.

Well, his grandmother always said that realizing your own mistakes was the first step to improvement. He couldn't just go on ahead like Natsu had suggested because, let's face it, he needed all the help he could get to make sure that he returned home in one piece and didn't worsen his grandmother's condition by giving her a heart attack. But he refused to let himself be a burden.

.

Zeref felt a little embarrassed to wake up in Natsu's lap. His cheek was pressed against the other's shoulder, and he could smell the faint odor of smoke and ash that lingered about the Fire Dragon's clothes. He couldn't remember if he'd fallen asleep that way or if it had happened sometime while he was dreaming. No wonder he was so warm. When had he let his guard down so much? Did it matter really?

His sudden tension woke Natsu. The dragon wizard stifled a yawn then asked, "Feeling better?"

Zeref nodded without opening his eyes. He couldn't decide if he wanted Natsu to keep on holding him or let go. He also wasn't sure if he should say anything about it.

At the moment, he wasn't sure about a lot of things.

"We should get going then," Natsu said. "You humans don't do so well in the dark, and it'll be night soon."

Zeref nodded again, and the dragon let go of him so he could stand up. Zeref discovered that the answer to his own earlier dilemma was that no, he did not, in fact, want Natsu to let go. But they really should get going and Natsu didn't comment on how they had woken up, so Zeref decided not to say anything either. It had probably just been an accident anyway.

Xander joined them a moment later and offered them a formal bow.

"I want to apologize," the man said solemnly. "I've been very rude, and I never meant to cause any problems for the two of you. Please, if there is anything I can do to repay you for all you've done to help me, don't hesitate to let me know."

The effect was slightly ruined by the leaf stuck to the back of his head, a patch of dark yellow against the pale yellow of his hair. Both wizards stared at it with some amusement until Xander straightened and faced Zeref.

"Excuse my lateness in asking, but what should I call you?"

Zeref hesitated. It didn't seem like a good idea to go sharing his real name, not with the knights stepping up their search and a new purpose to his traveling.

"Era," he said finally. "Just Era will be fine."

.

The few days before they returned to the main road along the Glass River were pleasantly peaceful. True to his word, Xander did his utmost not to burden them. This included being quiet once in awhile, making camp a suitable distance away from them, and not voicing his objections when Natsu went hunting. He did throw up the first time he saw Natsu skin and gut one of his kills, but after that, Natsu went elsewhere to prepare his meals and Xander strived not to notice the increasing number of animal skins being added to their packs. As Zeref had pointed out, at least they weren't wasting any of the animal.

When the woods began to thin and the river came into view, they were surprised to find the road full of wagons, horses, and people.

"It must be a festival day," Xander told them, a wide smile breaking out across his face. "We have a huge festival in Sage Town once a month that people come from all the nearby villages to attend. You see those colorful wagons? A lot of craftsmen around here use those when they come to sell their wares. It's practically a trademark of the Sage Town festivals."

"It looks like people have already started buying things," Natsu said, watching several people move away from one of the wagons with their arms full of paper-wrapped packages.

"That's another aspect unique to our festivals," the photographer explained. "See, we like to keep track of what's being sold and who visits, so the lines of people waiting to get into the town can get rather long. So long, in fact, that people often start to do their shopping while they wait."

"And that's supposed to be a good thing?"

"Well, maybe not good exactly, but you have to admit that it's unique."

Zeref tugged his hood lower over his face and pulled his cloak closer about himself. He knew he must look a little strange considering the summer sun beating down on them, but it was better than being recognized.

"You hungry?" Natsu asked, falling back to walk beside him.

"Not really," he replied. His stomach was too full of butterflies—the rowdy, unpleasant kind with too much energy and razor-edged wings.

"How about something small? Or something to drink? It'll give you something to do so you're not just standing around being awkward and uncomfortable."

Natsu had a good point.

"Okay. Anything you think smells good is fine."

"Hmmm."

Natsu's gaze swept along the queue as they made their way along it towards the back. The carts selling food and drink were easy to spot. Not only did they enjoy the largest number of customers, most of them had their specialty dishes painted larger than life upon their sides.

"Duck sandwiches? That's new. Fruit shake, all-greens salad—I'm not eating any salads for the next month. The fried chicken smells good. Kind of large portions though..."

They were so focused on choosing snacks that they had almost reached the end of the line before they noticed that they had lost Xander. So while Zeref joined the people waiting before a cart selling baked sweet potatoes and candied yams, Natsu doubled back to search for him. The dragon didn't have to walk far before he spotted the photographer's long, rust red coat.

"Hey, Xander, we're buying baked sweet potatoes. Did you want some?"

"What?" Xander looked away from the rows of pendants hung from neatly woven loops of cord upon the side of the wagon, which itself was painted in shades of blue and swirling patterns of gold. "Oh, I would, thank you. Give me a minute. I'm just making a purchase."

Natsu stopped beside him, following the direction of his gaze. "What are you buying?"

"He's looking over my charms, dear," the old woman whose wagon it was explained, smiling kindly at the young man with the spiky, salmon-colored hair. "My prices are very reasonable, and I can do custom orders too."

"You sell charms?" Natsu asked, surveying the many items swinging from their small, brass hooks. There were little figurines made of porcelain, pendants carved of stone, woven symbols of thread, and even shapes that had been carved from ivory. The workmanship on several of the charms was extremely detailed and quite impressive, although it was the simpler ones that really caught Natsu's attention.

While Xander muttered to himself on the pros and cons of different charms, Natsu gestured at a round, white disk and asked the old woman, "Can you tell me about this one? It's ivory, right? I've never seen ivory this pale before."

"That one?" She reached up and unhooked the pendant in question, handing it over to him. "Feel free to take a closer look. I came across that piece of ivory some years ago in a seaport. I believe the seller told me it washed up on shore during a storm, and they never did discover where it came from. The sea holds many secrets after all. Believe it or not, the shape was the ocean's doing, not mine, and the grooves upon its surface—you can feel them if you run your fingers lightly across it. They reminded me of an old symbol for luck, and so I enhanced them a little and made the whole thing into a pendant."

Watching Natsu turn the pendant over in his hand, she added, "Are you looking for a gift for someone?"

Natsu hadn't been, but now that she'd mentioned it...

"Yeah, I am."

Back by the sweet potato stand, Zeref glanced anxiously in the direction Natsu had gone. Aside from the fact that he'd rather avoid interacting with the salesman, Natsu had all their money. If he didn't return before Zeref reached the counter, things were going to get awkward.

Thankfully, when there were only two customers left in line in front of him, he glimpsed both Natsu and Xander weaving their way through the crowd. Zeref breathed a sigh of relief and stepped aside so Natsu could join him before the counter.

While the salesman counted out the change for the customers in front of them, Natsu pressed something round and flat into Zeref's hand. Startled, the wizard lifted the object, which turned out to be an ivory pendant upon a long, red cord. Zeref ran his fingers across the surface of the disk and found that it wasn't just smooth as he had first thought. Instead, there were shallow indents upon its face forming some kind of flowing design.

"What's this?"

"A good luck charm, or something like that," Natsu said. "You do seem a bit unlucky sometimes. Doesn't hurt, right?"

Zeref didn't believe in good luck charms, and he had the feeling that Natsu didn't really either. The dragon seemed too down-to-earth for that. Still...

"Thank you."

Natsu shrugged and watched him pull the cord over his head, dislodging his hood a little in the process. Once he'd tucked the pendant under the front of his robes, Natsu reached over to tug his hood back into place, then turned to speak with the salesman.

Standing behind them in the line, Xander looked away, feeling a little as though he had intruded on a private moment even though nothing in particular had happened. Maybe he was reading too much into things. His grandmother did say that he had a tendency to jump to conclusions. Then again, she also said that he had a good sense for people and emotions.

His spectacles were slipping again, and he lifted a hand to push them back up his nose. Now that he was paying attention, there seemed to be even more people waiting to get into town than was customary, even for one of Sage Town's famous festivals. Xander wondered if some special event had been planned that he wasn't aware of, or if something else had happened.

"Xander?"

The photographer turned back towards the cart at the sound of his name, and the dark-haired wizard passed him a paper bag full of baked sweet potato that had been cut into bite-sized chunks. Xander thanked him, and, when the other two had received their bags from the salesman as well, they moved down the road to secure a spot in the general queue.

An hour later, all three of them had finished their snacks, but the town had only just come into view.

"Wonder what's taking so long," Natsu said, peering past the crowd towards the town gates. Abruptly, he narrowed his eyes, his entire posture becoming more alert.

The other wizard tensed in response and asked, "Natsu?"

"The knights are here," Natsu replied, voice hard. "It looks like they're checking a lot of the people going into the town."

"Should we leave?"

Natsu frowned. "Maybe, but it could also be more suspicious if we turn around now. Nobody else is leaving."

Xander looked from one wizard to the other then back again.

"Is there a problem?"

There was a tense silence, then Era's quiet voice said, "They're probably looking for me."

Xander asked the logical next question. "Why?"

"Because they're frightened of me."

"Frightened?" Xander repeated, an edge of disbelief creeping into his voice. It was difficult to imagine anyone being frightened of this slender, thoughtful boy with the often soulful eyes.

"It's a misunderstanding," Natsu said forcefully. "And here's not really a great place to talk about it."

Xander looked between the two wizards again then at the knights who stood with the regular sentries on either side of the open gateway in the distance. He thought about the stories he'd heard about how the Rune Knights, newly organized by the Magic Council, were working hard to decrease the number of dark wizards plaguing the kingdom. Then he thought about the photograph in his satchel and what Natsu had told him about Era not sleeping because he was afraid that his magic would put Xander at risk of harm.

"All right," Xander said, squaring his shoulders. "I won't ask you to explain. When we reach the gates, please let me do the talking and play along."

* * *

 **TBC...**

* * *

 **AN:** Huh,Xander's proving to be kind of fun to write, especially because he's so different from Natsu and Zeref.

Yeah, knowing where a story should or could end is generally a very helpful plan:)

Whoa, that's a lot of questions. Um, by crossover/fusion, I meant that I'm planning to integrate the Fairy Tail characters into the Hero Academia universe (i.e. they were born there). I thought I'd try to combine my current character obsession with my current series obsession. I'll be modifying and somewhat downgrading their magic so their abilities are more like Quirks and less like magic, and yes, I will also be working with the Hero Academia characters. I'm not sure who will be easier or harder for me to write yet, so I don't know who will end up being more or less main. The only sure thing is that it will largely be Natsu and Zeref centric, since if it isn't, I'll probably lose interest before I start. My current plans don't involve working with the line with All for One; I quite like the series exactly as is and, at the moment, feel no particular desire to revamp or alter its own events. Instead, I'm setting the story after the Hero Killer incident and before summer camp with a new villain. I'm really more interested in the implications/challenges of trying to live in such a world and how the characters' lives cross paths and affect one another.

Anyway, thanks again. I hope you enjoyed the chapter.

 **.**


	20. Of Truth and Lies

**Disclaimer** : I do not own Fairy Tail.

 **Pairing(s)** : Natsu Dragneal x Zeref

 **WARNINGS: violence, alternative history,** **shounan ai (boy/boy pairing); you have been warned so don't like, don't read**

* * *

 **The Will to Live**

 **By V. Shalyr**

* * *

 **20\. Of Truth and Lies**

"Have you seen this boy? He should be traveling alone or with another young man, a Dragon Slayer."

The knight held a sketch up for Xander's inspection. It was Era all right, the photographer thought. The artist had done a magnificent job replicating the wizard's face.

"No, sorry, but I can't say that I have," Xander lied, squinting in an exaggerated fashion at the image. "Why, is he dangerous?"

The knight grunted. He'd had a long day, and the summer sun was far too intense. He was sweating profusely in his armor, and it was starting to chafe.

"It's none of your business. If you do see him, it's in your best interest to steer clear and let us know as soon as possible. We have good reason to believe that he's headed this way."

"I'll keep that in mind."

"Name and business?" the man asked, his gaze wandering a little now that he'd moved on to more standard questions.

"Xander, and I live here."

The town sentry who stood at the knight's elbow murmured as he jotted a note down on his clipboard, "That he does."

The knight nodded, lifting a hand to adjust his helmet and then glancing past Xander at the two wizards behind him.

"And you two?"

"They're with me," Xander said quickly, mentally wincing at the fact that the sentry on duty right now was someone he knew.

Sure enough, the sentry's brow furrowed at his answer and he glanced up. "What? But I thought you left the town by yourself. Your grandmother's worried sick."

"Didn't she tell you where I was going?" Xander asked, fishing for information. He didn't need the sentry poking holes in all his lies.

"She just said that you were trying to cheer her up, and she was afraid that you'd go and get yourself hurt. I assume you went somewhere dangerous."

Oh good, that made things easier.

"Well, it was a long trip, and long trips are always a little risky," Xander said, gesturing back at his two companions. "I thought Grandmother might feel better with more family around—you know, since Grandfather's gone. The house feels so empty with just the two of us. You remember that Grandmother and I went to a wedding last year? Well, let me introduce you to my cousin Natsu and his wife, Era."

Behind the photographer, Zeref lowered his head further beneath his hood to hide his own surprise at Xander's choice of lies. Then again, with his heavy cloak and loose clothes, it wasn't like anyone could actually tell that the body under the cloak wasn't quite the right shape.

Natsu wrapped an arm around the other wizard, drawing him closer against his side, and gave the gate guards an apologetic smile. "Hey, sorry to rush you, but will this take a lot longer? We've been on the road for days, and she's not feeling very well. We think she might have caught a cold on the way."

"I'm sorry to hear that," the sentry said. "It's the first time you two have traveled this far, isn't it? I remember that Xander said you've never left your hometown."

"That's right," Natsu said easily, "but family's important. So when Xander asked us, we agreed to visit for awhile."

"Welcome to our town then," the sentry said, nodding to them. "You chose an excellent time to visit. I hope you have fun while you're here. Xander should be able to help you find a healer if you need one, or a good apothecary."

"So you know all of these people?" the knight asked, his gaze lingering awhile longer on the figure shrouded in the cloak before turning to the other guard.

"I do, more or less. Xander's a good kid, even if he _is_ a bit clumsy sometimes."

"Well, all right then." The knight sounded doubtful, but he also sounded tired. And he waved them past with only one last, cursory inspection.

"That was surprisingly easy," Natsu said when they were far enough away from the town gates.

"That's the good thing about the sentry being someone I know," Xander replied, leading the way through the streets. "I have a reputation for honesty."

"Yeah? In that case, you're weirdly good at telling lies. You didn't act differently at all."

"Am I? I suppose I wasn't thinking about it that way. Anyhow, we're also lucky that the knight out there has obviously been on duty all day and really just wants a break."

"You do realize that this means we'll have to stay at your house for now, don't you?" Zeref asked.

The photographer only shrugged. "Of course. I wasn't lying when I said our house feels far too large for just two people."

"But what are we going to tell your grandmother?" Natsu asked.

"The truth. Or as much of it as you're comfortable with. She trusts my judgment, and I think she'll like you."

.

When Xander had said that his home was large, the wizards had not envisioned the three-story monster that now stood before them in an upscale part of town. Then again, that was probably a good thing, since Zeref would mostly have to remain indoors for the duration of their stay.

"Grandfather did very well for himself in perfumes and cosmetics after he finished his apprenticeship," Xander explained, crossing the front yard and unlocking the double front doors. "I actually do a little of that work myself these days, although I'm mostly helping my friend market her new picture boxes and picture paper. They haven't really caught on yet, but I have a feeling that they're going to be a big hit eventually."

"You left your grandmother here all by herself?" Zeref asked, frowning.

"Of course not! I asked our neighbor to stay with her until I got back, and the doctor visits every other day. In fact, I should probably go speak with Miss Margret before she notices you. Grandmother's room is at the far left corner of the ground floor. If you need some distance, there are several empty rooms on the top floor you can pick from."

"Thanks, we'll go check them out." Natsu paused, glanced around, then added, "Where can we find the stairs?"

It was obvious that the house belonged to someone with a love for art. Paintings, most of them watercolors, lined every wall they passed. Several of them depicted landscapes while others showed scenes from what the wizards guessed was Sage Town.

"It smells a bit dusty, but not too bad," Natsu said when they reached the third floor landing. "I assume you prefer the near right corner, since it's the farthest from his grandmother."

He pushed open the door in question and glanced inside.

"Huh, talk about empty. At least the window's got curtains. It's a bit cramped, but it might fit a mattress if they've got one to spare. If not, we could just put some blankets on the floor."

"Natsu," Zeref said a little hesitantly, "you don't really have to stay with me, you know. There are other rooms. This isn't like the hotel where you needed to keep an eye on me."

Natsu stopped in his examination of the room and moved to stand in front of him.

"Do you not want me to stay with you?"

"What? No, that's not what I meant..."

Zeref trailed off, unsure how to explain. He just didn't want to become a bother. Natsu was one person that he absolutely did not want to lose.

"I really don't mind," Natsu said.

The dragon's sharp gaze fixed on his face was starting to make Zeref uncomfortable. It was a little too focused, a little too intent—and for some strange reason, Zeref's stomach was full of butterflies again, only this time, they were soft and fluttery and not all that unpleasant.

In an attempt to change the odd mood that had settled around them, Zeref started towards the window, intending to let in some fresh air. They should probably dust the room too, clean it up some, even if they were hoping not to stay long.

He'd gotten only two steps when Natsu grabbed his wrist and turned him around to face him again. There was the briefest of pauses—so brief that Zeref might have imagined it—then Natsu leaned in and kissed him.

Zeref froze, too shocked to respond either positively or negatively. The kiss ended almost as quickly as it had started, and Natsu pulled back a little, gaze never leaving the other's wide eyes. He seemed to consider something for a moment, then he let go of Zeref's wrist.

"I'm going to see if Xander knows where we can sell the stuff we collected. And I guess I should say hi to his grandmother too, since we'll be living under the same roof for awhile."

Mutely, Zeref nodded and watched Natsu leave, disappearing through the open doorway. After he had gone, Zeref remained standing stock still in the middle of the room, staring at nothing in particular. Natsu couldn't possibly be serious... could he?

.

Natsu wasn't sure if leaving Zeref alone upstairs was the right thing to do. But if he understood the boy at all, which he rather thought that he did, then Zeref would no doubt need a lot of time and space to think about what Natsu had just done. Kissing him had been an impulsive action on the dragon wizard's part, but in the grand scheme of things, it had not been a spur of the moment decision. Natsu knew exactly what he was doing, and he just hoped that the other wizard would realize that and not simply write the entire situation off as an impossibility.

Locating Xander and his grandmother was easy. Natsu could hear the old woman's dry, reedy voice before he'd even reached the bottom of the stairs.

"You could have been killed, rushing into Incense Wood like that, and then what would I have done? I've only just lost your grandfather. I couldn't bear losing you too."

Xander's reply was quiet and muffled, but the tone was obviously apologetic.

When he reached the old woman's room, Natsu knocked on the doorframe to get their attention before moving past the doorway. All the furnishings here were in shades of green from the leaf-patterned wallpaper and the thick carpet to the domed lampshade of the lamp upon the nightstand. Natsu guessed that the effect was meant to be soothing, although it wasn't currently having that influence upon its occupants.

"Sorry to impose," he said to the old woman seated on the bed with her back propped up against a stack of pillows.

"Oh no, it's the least we could do to thank you for rescuing my grandson." She broke off into a fit of coughing, and Xander pressed a glass of water into her hands.

"Grandmother, please. The doctor said you shouldn't stress."

"You're the one who's causing me stress, boy," she sighed, although there was no real bite in her voice. Just weariness. "Didn't you say there were two of them?"

Natsu was the one who answered. "My friend's upstairs. He's had a stressful day too and needs some time to himself."

"Of course. My grandson tells me that the Rune Knights are looking for him...?"

"That's right." Natsu hesitated, considering the two humans who had chosen to share their home with them. "The knights are scared of him because he's cursed. It's a really dangerous curse that can hurt a lot of people. That's one reason we're here. We heard that someone around Eden Lake might be able to help us. Have you ever heard the name Porlyusica?"

.

"Era?" Xander was standing in the doorway of the small, unfurnished room. "Natsu is still speaking with my grandmother, but after that, we're going to see what information we can find about this curse breaker that you're looking for. We'll also be going to the tanner's to sell those animal skins and then a jeweler's to trade the lizard teeth. Did you want to come?"

From where he'd sat down against the wall, Zeref shook his head. "I think it would be best if I do not."

Xander nodded, having expected as much. "Then could you please keep an eye on my grandmother for me? Someone needs to make sure she has water and remind her to take her pills in half an hour. Miss Margret has already left."

"All right."

"We can set this room up for you two when we get back."

"Okay."

Zeref listened to the man's footsteps leave along the hall and down the stairs.

So Natsu had decided that they could trust these people. Looking back over the past several days, Zeref could understand why. All the same, he doubted that he would have made the same decision had he been on his own. Maybe that was the problem. He'd grown so accustomed to not trusting anyone. To not believing in anyone, no matter how much he desperately wanted to.

His mind was a jumbled mess of thoughts and confused feelings. He needed time to think and sort things out, but he had no idea where to begin or what he was supposed to be figuring out exactly.

He let his head fall back against the wall and looked at the thin stream of light that shone beneath the window curtains. Sometimes, when the angle was just right, he could pick out dust motes drifting in the air, made almost mystical by the glow, which was funny in its way since they were just dust motes—perfectly ordinary and as common as dirt.

Maybe he should get up and look around the house. Just sitting here in the dark wasn't helping him think any better. Besides, if he needed to remind Xander's grandmother to take her pills in half an hour, he had to locate a clock.

.

"There's something odd about you."

Zeref paused with his hand on the water jug with which he had been about to refill the glass on the nightstand.

"I apologize if I woke you."

The old woman peered at him through the dim afternoon light that fell through the gap in the window curtains. Her blue eyes, very much like her grandson's, were clear and thoughtful.

Instead of replying to his statement, she continued, "I'm an artist, although I don't do much painting these days. It's been almost a year since I've been able to hold a brush steady... In any case, I'm good with people's faces, and there's something unusual about your face."

Zeref set down the jug and turned to look at her, unsure if he should respond.

"My grandson said that you're a wizard."

"That's right."

"Thank you—you and that young man of yours—for helping him. I know he can be rather a lot of trouble. I hoped he would grow out of his clumsiness, but that doesn't seem to have happened."

"Natsu's not—I mean, we're not like that."

"No? He certainly looks like he's interested when he talks about you."

"He does? I... suppose I haven't really been paying attention." Zeref hesitated then sighed. "No, that's not entirely true. You can't see what you don't allow yourself to see."

"You seem a little lost to me," the old woman observed.

She carefully and slowly levered herself into a sitting position and reached out to draw the curtains halfway across the large window beside her. Late afternoon light filled the room, and through the glass, Zeref could see what appeared to be a vegetable garden next to a stretch of green grass and an apple tree. It wasn't the kind of backyard that generally got featured in paintings or on greeting cards, but it was practical and well tended. She spent so long gazing outside that Zeref thought she had forgotten about him, but she spoke again before he could leave.

"We do seem very good at blinding ourselves sometimes, don't we? I had no idea how worried Xander was for me until he left me that note and ran off to the woods. It was a rude awakening for sure."

The old woman let out a long, deep sigh and took the photograph from where Xander had placed it beside her lamp. He'd framed it too, and she ran her fingers along the smooth, wooden edge.

"If you're not interested," she said, "you should let him down gently as soon as possible."

"What? Oh, um, no, that's not... I've honestly never given it any thought. It's... never been a possibility."

"You're fond of him then?"

This was not a conversation he had been expecting to have, especially not with Xander's ill grandmother. Then again, awkward though it was, perhaps this was a blessing in disguise. He sorely needed to talk to someone, and there were some things it was actually easier to talk about with a stranger that he knew was unlikely to go telling someone else.

"I am," he admitted. He could be fairly certain of at least that much.

"Then what seems to be the problem? I would have thought that earning a dragon's interest would be rather flattering."

"He told you about that?" Zeref asked, surprised.

She chuckled, but stopped quickly when a cough started in her chest. "Since he told us about why you were looking for a curse breaker without first consulting you, I believe he thought it was only fair to tell us why he was looking for her as well."

"I see."

That... did sound like a decision that Natsu would make.

It was Zeref's turn to sigh. "It just seems... complicated. I'm not a female dragon."

"I'm sure he realizes that," the old woman said dryly.

Okay, Zeref had to concede that that was a silly response, but, "I'm cursed. I should have died a long time ago. I can't even walk freely down the street. Why would he want someone like that?"

"So you're wondering why he cares."

"I... No, I don't know. There seem to be a lot of reasons why it could never work, but if you ask me what those are, it's hard to articulate any of them. That doesn't make much sense, does it?"

"On the contrary, it makes perfect sense. It's easy to be frightened when we want something to work, especially when it looks like a real possibility."

Frightened? Was he frightened? Zeref turned this surprising suggestion over in his mind, lifting a hand to touch the ivory pendant under the front of his robes. He was startled to realize that she might be right. He was, indeed, frightened. For such a long time, all he had really wanted was to die, and yet now, there was so much happening. It threw him off balance to suddenly be given other opportunities, to suddenly have reasons to keep on going—reasons to live. There was so much more to lose, so much more that could go wrong.

The old woman rested the picture frame on her lap. "When I saw those flowers, I was so exhausted. My twisted ankle was throbbing something fearsome, and if Xander's grandfather hadn't been holding me up, I'm almost positive I would have just given up. I couldn't think of anything waiting for me back in town anyway. Then those flowers... For a whole minute, all the two of us could do was stand there and stare. It's a good thing no one else was around. We must have looked ridiculous, gaping like that. When the glow of the flowers finally faded, he turned to me and said, that was incredible. Aren't you glad we saw it? Maybe we'll be able to see it again someday."

For a moment, her eyes misted over, but she quickly dabbed away the moisture with the back of her hand. "And you know what? I _was_ glad. I was glad that I was there to see that garden, and even though it was gone and that filled me with regret, I was still happy to have had the chance to see it. That experience will forever remain a part of me. Sometimes, we just have to give ourselves a chance, and trust that the world can still be something beautiful."

Zeref mentally compared what she had just said with the story that Xander had told them, then he asked, "Why tell me all this?"

The elderly woman placed the framed photograph back on the nightstand. "I'm just a nosy old woman with too much time and too little to do. We old people love to give advice. Didn't you know? And unlike my dear grandson, you actually seem to listen."

The humor ebbed from her voice, and she added, "Besides, you look tired. A person so young shouldn't have such a look. And your friend seemed a little preoccupied when he spoke with me. Love can be a wonderful thing if you tend it properly and help it grow. I almost missed my chance when I chose to run away. Perhaps there would have been other chances. It's not possible to live a life completely free of regret, but there are some regrets that I feel it's better not to have."

Regrets that it was better not to have... She was right about that. If he ran away from the dragon's advances right now, he would regret it for the rest of his life, and all considered, that could be a very, very long time.

The terrible weight in his chest eased.

"I really should have realized what he was thinking when he started bringing me dead animals every day and insisting that we share them," he said, a hint of amusement creeping into his voice.

The old woman wrinkled her nose. "That sounds mildly disturbing, but I suppose different people have different customs."

Somewhere in the house, a clock began to sound the hour.

They both listened to the chimes for a moment, then Zeref said, ""I'm supposed to remind you to take your pills."

"Of course. I do have a tendency to forget, but then, they really are far too bitter."

She sighed and removed a bottle from her nightstand while Zeref picked up the water jug again and refilled her cup. Hopefully, Natsu would come back soon so they could talk.

* * *

 **TBC...**

* * *

 **AN:** Oh no, answering the questions was no problem:) I was just surprised.

Eh heh, a friend like Xander? That sounds kind of fun. I don't think there's anyone quite like him among my acquaintances.

 **.**


	21. So We Don't Regret

**Disclaimer** : I do not own Fairy Tail.

 **Pairing(s)** : Natsu Dragneal x Zeref

 **WARNINGS: violence, alternative history,** **shounan ai (boy/boy pairing); you have been warned so don't like, don't read**

* * *

 **The Will to Live**

 **By V. Shalyr**

* * *

 **21\. So We Don't Regret**

"Wizard healers?" The jeweler tapped her lip with one well-manicured finger, her gaze unfocused. "I know of several around Eden Lake. It's something about the water around here. It's rich in nutrients and minerals from its trip down from the mountains, and a lot of special, medicinal herbs can be cultivated in the area. I don't think I've ever heard the name Porlyusica though."

Xander sighed. "Well, thanks anyway."

"Hold on a second." The woman vanished into the back of her shop and returned a second later with a folded newspaper. She set it on the glass display case that doubled as a counter and pointed to a small square of text. "If you're looking for a powerful healer, maybe this person would be worth looking up. Rumor has it that she actually came from another world."

Xander adjusted his spectacles and read the title, printed in bold, black letters. "The Ghost Lady? That doesn't sound very nice."

The jeweler laughed. "I suppose it doesn't, but that's what people thought she was at first and the name stuck. Just goes to show how important first impressions can be."

"I'm sorry, but can we keep this?" Xander asked, gesturing at the newspaper.

She waved a dismissive hand. "Be my guest. Your cousin brought me some of the finest silver lizard teeth I've ever seen. You have no idea how hard they are to come by right now."

Standing off to the side, Natsu was only half listening. He was finding it difficult to focus on gathering information. His mind kept going back to earlier that day and a pair of large, dark eyes full of surprise.

The boy's lips had been very soft.

"Natsu? Natsu!"

The dragon refocused his attention on the present and said, "Yeah, what?"

Xander frowned at him as they exited the shop and paused on the side of the street. "Did you hear a word I said?"

Natsu sifted back through his memories of the last few minutes before answering. "Something about asking around the local hospital and eavesdropping around the docks."

Xander sighed. "Something like that. Listen, if you're worried about Era being alone at home, we could just call it a day and go back."

Natsu considered this for a moment then said, "Actually, I was wondering if you could tell me more about how a human goes about courting someone he's interested in. I think I might need some advice."

Xander scratched the back of his neck, flustered. "I'm not sure I'm qualified to give that kind of advice. I don't have any, uh, successful experiences."

Natsu raised his eyebrows. "Yeah? So you have _un_ successful experiences?"

"If you must know, the only girl I've ever asked out whacked me with the flowers I bought her and refused to speak to me for a week."

"Why'd she do that?"

"You know, I still have no idea."

"Well, that's not very helpful."

Xander sniffed. "I told you I wasn't qualified."

"But you're a human. Shouldn't you at least have some idea how humans generally go about things?"

"It's not the same for all humans," the photographer said defensively. "I mean, maybe she hit me with the flowers because she didn't like flowers and I never figured that out. Maybe she just didn't like me and found my asking her offensive somehow. Or maybe she _did_ like me and just had a really strange way of showing it."

"And if she hadn't turned you down, what then?"

The red faded from Xander's face, and he grew thoughtful. "We would have started dating—you know, going places and doing things together. To see if we really did like each other, and if we were compatible. I guess you could also say that it's about making memories—memories about being together, caring, and having fun while the two people involved make sure that they really want one another that way. After all, it's always possible that the other person will end up liking someone else."

Natsu briefly imagined this possibility—and quickly put a stop to it at the sudden surge of rage that it provoked.

"Don't—say things like that," he snapped. " It's making me angry just thinking about it."

A few passersby glanced at him, startled, and hastened on.

Xander glanced at his face and almost took a step away from him. Anger—or should that be jealousy, some corner of his mind wondered—made the wizard's eyes more inhuman. It was... kind of creepy now that he knew the other young man was actually a dragon. Most of the stories he'd heard about dragons were bad. If he hadn't traveled with Natsu and Zeref for so many days, he would have been rather a lot more afraid. As things stood, the information was still somewhat unnerving.

"Uh, well, I'm sure you don't have to worry about that," Xander said hurriedly. "It's obvious that you two are very close. To be honest, I thought you were already together."

"We're not," Natsu told him. "Not yet anyway. But we will be, if I have anything to say about it."

"How can you be so sure?" Xander asked. The photographer himself had never been able to muster that kind of confidence in... well, in anything really. Maybe that was why the girl had whacked him.

Natsu's answer surprised him.

"I'm not sure, but I don't plan on giving up."

.

Natsu and Zeref ate dinner at one end of the overly long dining table while Xander ate with his grandmother in her room, recounting some of his recent adventures over vegetable stew and tea. Neither wizard spoke of what had happened between them earlier that day, although both of them were thinking about it. The dining room of this mostly empty house just didn't seem like the right place, and over dinner felt like the wrong time.

It wasn't until two hours later after they had cleaned up their new sleeping quarters and spread several layers of old quilts and blankets upon the floor that either of them broached the subject.

"Natsu... were— _are_ —you serious?"

Natsu shut the door and moved to sit beside him. The window to their left was still open, letting in a warm breeze and the distant noise of the overflowing marketplace. In contrast, the house around them felt incredibly quiet with none of the sounds that filled the quiet of the woods.

"Of course I am. We take these things very seriously."

Dark eyes searched the dragon's face. "But I'm—why would... Are you sure?"

"That's kind of the same question you just asked me."

Zeref looked away.

Natsu gave him a moment to think about this then said, "So?"

He wished he could see the boy's face more clearly. He'd gotten good at reading Zeref's body language, but it was easier when Natsu could see his features.

Several incredibly long seconds ticked by, then Zeref said, "I'm... very fond of you. If I allowed myself, I'm fairly sure that I could grow to love you. I... want to try to make it work, but you understand that... it will take me some time to get used to the idea of any kind of intimate relationship. I'm afraid you'll have to be patient with me."

"Not a problem," Natsu replied, a subtle tension that he hadn't quite noticed himself leaving his shoulders. "We've got time."

And really, Natsu had already begun working on that.

"Just let me know if I do anything that makes you really uncomfortable, okay?"

Zeref nodded and relaxed as well, relieved that this conversation had not been as awkward as part of him had feared. It was just... such a strange subject for him of all people to be discussing.

"So did anything happen while you were out?" he asked.

"We got great deals for everything," Natsu said. "The jeweler was really happy about the lizard teeth we had, and we ended up selling the ferret and squirrel furs to some kind of clothing store. No one we asked knew anything about any healers who specialized in magical curses, but there are stories about someone called the Ghost Lady that Xander thinks might be worth looking into."

Zeref got to his knees and reached over to close the window while he listened, drawing the curtains across the view of darkening skies.

"Apparently, people think she came from another world. Do you think that's possible?"

"Well, I don't see why not. I've heard of stranger things."

Returning to his spot on the layered quilts, Zeref unfolded yet another quilt to act as a blanket. Natsu grabbed two pillows from the stack Xander had left by the door and handed one to him.

"There also seems to be a crazy lot of wizards around right now. That doesn't seem to be normal for Sage Town. I overheard several people complaining about it—you know, wizards getting into fights and not being careful with their spells."

Zeref frowned. "Do you have any idea why? Is there some kind of magic-related event being held here?"

"I wouldn't call it an event exactly. More like a job fair."

"What?"

"Let me see. I'm sure I have one of those flyers somewhere..." Natsu searched his pockets and eventually extracted a folded and slightly rumpled piece of paper. He smoothed it out and handed it to the other wizard. "There were people passing them out on practically every street corner."

The first thing Zeref noticed—and really, that was probably the goal of the flyer's distributer—was the monetary sum printed in bold, black letters across the center of the page.

"Natsu, this is—"

"An incredible amount of gold," the dragon finished for him. "It's a reward being offered by the largest merchant company in the area. The flyer doesn't say what for, but they're also hiring a bunch of wizards for a big job."

Zeref took in the minimal amount of text on the flyer at a glance then turned it over to see if there was any more writing on the back. "All it has is a time and location..."

"Yeah, but according to the rumors going around, something or someone has been attacking and sinking most of the ships that attempt to cross Eden Lake. My guess is that it has something to do with that. It's also why they aren't running the usual cruise ships right now."

"Which means we likely won't be able to leave town by ship as Maki suggested," Zeref murmured, thinking out loud. "I wonder if we should go listen to the job details. If they're looking to hire a large number of wizards, we might be able to blend in and leave on the pretext of work."

"I was thinking the same thing," Natsu said, grinning. "Especially since some of those complaints I heard were about the influx of dark wizards."

"What?"

"The employer's not being choosy. As long as you think you can get the job done, they're willing to pay you. Most people are inclined to turn a blind eye because the attacks are causing too many problems for the town. And that's a hell of a lot of money they're offering. If there are a lot of other dark wizards, even if the knights do take an interest, they won't be able to focus on just us."

Zeref thought this over for a moment then nodded. It wasn't a solid plan, but it was better than nothing. The longer they stayed with Xander and his grandmother, the more likely they were to bring trouble knocking at the door.

Tomorrow was going to be a long day. The recruitment event wasn't until the next evening, so that gave them one day to gather as much information as they could. Then it would be time to go. The uninhabited sections of Eden Lake's shores might be inhospitable and mazelike, but Zeref was sure that he and Natsu would be just fine. The important thing was not to be noticed so they didn't end up having to deal with an army. Zeref didn't want to add any more black marks to his record if he could help it. He had enough of those weighing on his conscience already. It was no wonder that the knights had ranked him so high on their priority list.

He was still thinking about this—albeit in the careful, tentative way he thought about most subjects that could potentially upset his mood—when he lay down facing the closed window, and Natsu got up to turn off the single, yellowish light fixed to the ceiling. The light wasn't centered, a corner of the wizard's mind noted, then the room went dark and he was left looking at purple afterimages against the darkness.

Part of him wished that they were still out in the forest where they could hear birds and insects in the distance accompanied by the whisper of wind through the trees. They were familiar sounds, and right now, he felt a nagging need for what was familiar.

The quilts rustled when Natsu lay down behind him and snaked an arm around him to gather him against his chest. Zeref immediately went tense. Before today, he'd begun to grow accustomed to the moments of closeness that occurred between them. He'd even begun to find a sense of security from it. But now that he knew Natsu's intentions towards him, he was suddenly hyper aware of every casual and not so casual touch.

"You were more relaxed when people were trying to kill you," Natsu said.

He sounded amused, but Zeref still felt a little bad about it. It was, after all, kind of ridiculous. For heaven's sake, he'd spent a whole morning sleeping in Natsu's lap and found it perfectly acceptable not all that long ago.

"Sorry..."

"Stop with the apologizing," Natsu sighed. "Seriously. What have you got to apologize for?"

"I want to make this work, but I don't know how."

"You can start by not over thinking it. I'm going to hold you, and we're going to sleep. I'm almost positive that you like being held...?"

"I do," Zeref admitted, more to himself than to Natsu. It wasn't something he'd allowed himself to contemplate since that morning in the woods.

"Besides," Natsu said, repeating his own words from earlier that evening, "we have time. I'm willing to wait for you to work things out."

"I don't want to make you wait forever."

"And I don't want to wait forever," Natsu replied wryly. "I'm not _that_ patient."

He pressed his nose into the other's dark hair that smelled of dew-drenched, autumn mornings and added, "Don't worry, it won't take that long."

And somehow, Natsu's confidence made Zeref feel calmer. The dragon was right. He should really start by trying not to worry so much. No matter what, he couldn't—wouldn't—run away. He didn't need to add this to his long list of regrets.

Long after the boy had fallen asleep, Natsu remained awake, listening to his soft, even breathing. In his mind, he replayed what Zeref had said to him.

" _I'm... very fond of you. If I allowed myself, I'm fairly sure that I could grow to love you."_

The dragon was rather pleased by that. He hadn't expected the wizard to say so much. In fact, he'd half expected Zeref to pretend—at least for a few days—that nothing had happened.

Love, huh? Natsu wasn't sure he knew what it actually meant to love someone. What he could say for certain was that he wanted to keep Zeref by his side and protect him. He wanted the boy to be happy, but he also wanted Zeref to smile only for him. There was something fiercely possessive about the way he felt when it came to the quiet, dark-haired wizard, and Natsu had to admit that there was probably something selfish about it too. Was that love?

It probably was, Natsu decided, for a dragon like him anyway. Or it could be eventually, and that was good enough for now.

* * *

 **TBC...**

* * *

 **.**


	22. The Monster of Eden Lake

**Disclaimer** : I do not own Fairy Tail.

 **Pairing(s)** : Natsu Dragneal x Zeref

 **WARNINGS: violence, alternative history,** **shounan ai (boy/boy pairing); you have been warned so don't like, don't read**

* * *

 **The Will to Live**

 **By V. Shalyr**

* * *

 **22\. The Monster of Eden Lake**

Everything along this section of the stream was dead, and there were bones in the shallow water. Human bones.

Captain Edrik looked around at the skeletal remains of the trees then back at the bleached, white dome of the skull that made its empty eye sockets seem that much more dark. He wondered who it had been.

"The bones were probably here already," Marley said, glancing at the human skeleton then away again with a shudder. There was something not quite right about it that gave her the creeps. "Zeref's magic kills, but it generally leaves more behind than that."

Edrik only nodded, although he thought privately that perhaps there was another reason for these particular remains. If whoever the person was had died here, he would have expected the bones to be more scattered, taken apart by wild animals feeding on the corpse. To leave nothing but bones, the person would have had to have died quite some time ago. Yet not only were most of the bones intact and accounted for, they looked almost new. The effect was disjointed and disconcerting, and all the dead trees, withered leaves, and dry moss only enhanced this sense of wrongness. Edrik couldn't believe that it was a coincidence that the bones were right in the middle of it all.

One thing was for sure though. This glimpse of what the Black Wizard's magic could do was a chilling reminder of why his team and so many of the other Rune Knights had been added to the search for Zeref.

"Should we leave, sir? We think we've found a trace of his aura. Headquarters was right, and he appears to be headed in the direction of the lake. The assistance you asked for should be arriving in Sage Town soon as well."

Edrik took one last look at the dead patch of woods, etching the image into his memory, and nodded.

"Let's move."

.

Leagues away in Sage Town, several much younger and less experienced members of the Rune Knights were having, in short, a very bad day.

Natsu watched the fight between the small group of knights and other wizards from the window of a bakery across the street. A giant, paper bag sat on the table next to him, stuffed with various sandwiches and pastries. The lot was going to be lunch, and Natsu was looking forward to that lunch already. However, he couldn't bring it all back to the house until the commotion outside settled down.

"They're still at it?" Xander asked, returning from the post office next door with his arms full of newspapers and magazines.

"Yeah. Doesn't help that the crowd keeps egging them on."

The photographer sighed in exasperation. "They're acting like unruly children. Do you know who started it?"

"Nope. Does it matter? The knights pulled those two guys to the side of the street to question them, and I guess it annoyed them or something." Natsu shrugged. "I don't like the knights myself, but that's because they're after Era. I don't understand why so many humans don't seem to like them either. I thought they were created to help keep the peace and protect non-wizards from crimes committed by wizards."

Xander adjusted his spectacles, wincing at the sound of a fist striking flesh. The noise of the brawl was all too easy to hear through the bakery's open door. "Some people do like having them around, and some people don't. Think about it. They only recently declared that certain guilds and wizards are committing crimes by taking the jobs that they take or working with whatever spells they work with. It wasn't always illegal to hire a person to use magic to kill someone, for instance. Just like it wasn't always illegal to assassinate an enemy through more mundane means. When you suddenly start trying to impose all these rules on people, even people that aren't directly affected can start getting nervous and upset. It's about who has authority and what rights people ought to have. No one likes other people throwing their weight around."

"Makes sense, I guess."

Frankly, Natsu wasn't all that interested. Humans were unbelievably talented at complicating their own lives. Right now, Natsu just wanted the idiots clogging up the street to go away so he could get back to Zeref and tell him what he'd seen and heard around town that morning.

It was a whole half hour before Natsu and Xander were able to leave the bakery unnoticed, and another fifteen minutes before they stepped through the door of Xander's family home. The photographer selected two pastries from the bag and headed for his grandmother's room while Natsu took everything else he'd bought and followed his nose to a room on the second floor that turned out to be a small library. Zeref sat at the desk by the window overlooking the backyard with a book in his hands.

"You're reading about flowers?" Natsu asked incredulously, catching sight of the title embossed upon the cover.

"There aren't a lot of choices," Zeref replied, gesturing at the laden bookshelves. "Almost all of these books are about flowers. At least it's a subject that I don't know much about and don't find uninteresting. The other books are all about perfume making and skin care. I don't really care for perfume, and I don't think my skin needs any care."

Natsu laughed and set the paper bag on the other end of the desk. "Come on, eat something. I got one of everything the bakery had—although Xander took the cheese croissant and the custard pastry."

Zeref set the book aside and rose from his chair, walking over to peer into the bag. It looked like Natsu had been buying lunch as well as dinner. It was difficult to tell what any of it was exactly, so he just chose one of the paper-wrapped items at random.

"Did you find out anything useful?"

"Depends on what you consider useful," Natsu said, choosing a bacon sandwich for himself. "There are several famous healers living about the lake, but the Ghost Lady still seems like our best bet. Apparently, she started getting famous for dealing with a strange plaque that struck a nearby village something like three years ago. A dark wizard was killed there, and before he died, he cursed the villagers for helping the knights that had been chasing him. Immediately afterward, people started getting sick. A lot of healers tried to help, but they started to fall ill too. It looked like the entire village was finished until the Ghost Lady showed up and started passing out this potion. Whatever it was, everyone got better, and then she just packed up and left. Didn't say a word the whole time. There are all sorts of stories about her, but the only thing most people agree on is that she doesn't like to interact with people much despite being a healer. That fits with what Dad said."

Zeref nodded. "I don't suppose anyone knew where she could be found."

"Unfortunately, no. She just seems to show up now and then, and then disappear again."

"That will make things difficult."

Natsu shrugged, not all that concerned. "At least we know we're in the right area."

Assuming she was even the right person. Zeref didn't bother pointing this out though. They both knew it, and they knew also that it wasn't important. If this assumption turned out to be false, they would just keep searching.

Instead, Zeref asked, "So did you end up going to the docks?"

"I did. You wouldn't believe the boats they have. There was this one ship that had trees growing on it—actual, living trees. Not sure what the point was, but it did look kind of amazing."

"Looking amazing might have been the point."

Natsu snorted then went on to describe some of the merchandise being sold and the people he had seen.

"There was this old man telling stories to a bunch of kids in the park. When we passed by, he'd just started one on a girl who'd been bewitched by an evil sorceress and fell asleep for a hundred years. I was surprised to recognize it from that fairytale collection. The kids seemed to like it, although I thought it was a bit boring."

"Boring?" Zeref repeated, recalling the story in question. "I suppose it is a little boring. I would have said it was more illogical myself, to believe that someone would come along and love her enough for that love to wake her from the magic when he could not possibly have so much as spoken to her before."

"Boring and illogical then," Natsu concluded. "Of course, a lot of those stories were kind of illogical, so maybe that shouldn't count."

A polite cough interrupted them, and they glanced over to find Xander in the library doorway. The photographer adjusted his spectacles with his left hand and held up a brown cloth bag with his right.

"That sentry who was on guard duty yesterday, his wife sent him over with some herbal tea that's supposed to be helpful for curing colds and fevers. For Era."

The two wizards looked at one another, bemused.

"That was nice of them," Natsu said.

Zeref agreed. "Please tell them that it was helpful."

.

Considering the amount of reward money at stake, the massive turnout in the shipyard was unsurprising.

Zeref had been afraid that his hood and cloak would make him appear suspicious, but he needn't have worried. Not only was he not the only one hiding his face in such a manner, he spotted several wizards wearing masks and even one person whose face was almost completely obscured by bandages. Any one of these individuals could easily outdo him in sheer suspiciousness.

A dark-skinned man, broad about the shoulders but not especially tall, stood on a raised dais at the front of the crowd. His dark gray overcoat was embroidered with abstract patterns of wind and cloud, and he wore a large, rather cumbersome looking ring on each hand, the foggy gray moonstones set in them glinting as he gestured at the map tacked up beside him.

"Several ships have been sunk here, here, and here," he said, his voice booming across the shipyard. "Survivors have reported seeing lights in the water and hearing shrieks like those of some giant, demonic bird. Almost all the attacks have taken place between dusk and dawn, so we don't know what manner of creature we're actually dealing with—or if it is, in fact, a swarm of creatures instead of a single beast. What we do know is that it, or they, favor deeper waters, but will occasionally venture close to the small islands scattered throughout the western half of the lake."

He paused to let them digest this information.

A young man with lank, white hair down to his shoulders called out from the back of the audience, "So, Remi, what's the plan? You've got one right? I heard you were asked to head this little operation."

Remi... That name sounded familiar.

"Isn't that the shipwright Troy and Maki told us about?" Natsu asked quietly.

"I believe so."

"Should we give him that letter?"

Zeref thought for a moment then shook his head. "At this point, there wouldn't be any point. The fewer people who know the truth, the better. Even if he was willing to help us, I don't see how getting him involved in our business would help us in any way."

On the stage, the shipwright's forehead wrinkled. "What are you doing here, Taiyo? You do realize, don't you, that we'll all be fighting on a lake? Fire Magic isn't exactly the best on the water."

"Hey, what's he mean by that?" Natsu muttered under his breath, offended.

"Probably that water usually extinguishes flames."

"Yeah? Well, I can make my Fire Magic work even _underwater_."

"Natsu, we need to hear this. Besides, he's not talking about you."

Taiyo didn't seem to agree with the shipwright any more than Natsu did.

"That just goes to show how little you know about powerful Fire Magic. I'm going to be the one taking home that reward money."

Remi just sighed and returned his attention to the rest of the crowd. "I was asked to lead this operation because we'll be using one of my ships. I do not specialize in combat magic, but I do know a great deal about sailing, and I expect you all to pay attention to my instructions while we're onboard to minimize potential problems. All of you who choose to help will be paid a handsome sum for your efforts, seeing as you will be risking your lives. The reward, on the other hand, will go to the wizard or wizards who actually slay the monster."

"Works for me," a woman in the front murmured. Her sandy hair was braided and coiled atop her head, mimicking the crisscrossed pattern on her circular earrings.

Remi continued. "We will set sail tomorrow afternoon from this spot, and ours will be the only vessel on the entire lake. We've spoken to the other settlements along the shore to make sure of that. You have until then to gather any weapons or supplies you might need. We don't know when or if the creature will attack us, so refreshments and lodgings will be provided. Until we find the beast, we will not be returning to port."

"So we'll be bait, huh?" Taiyo drawled. "Sounds like fun."

"Every one of you should think carefully before joining this mission," Remi said sharply. "The monster we're hunting has destroyed more than a dozen ships already and taken more lives than I care to count. Do not, and I repeat, do _not_ take this job lightly. Once we're on the water, we won't be turning back."

He paused for a moment then added, "You're dismissed. If you're accompanying us, gather back here tomorrow at five."

Slowly, the crowd dispersed, some leaving in silence, others talking quietly with one another or murmuring under their breaths to themselves.

"Wonder how many of them will be back tomorrow," Natsu said.

"Quite a few, I imagine," Zeref replied. "If they came here at all, they must have some degree of confidence in their skills. And many wizards with that kind of confidence are also rather competitive, arrogant, and full of themselves."

Natsu snorted. "Sounds like great people to get stuck on a ship with."

Taiyo strode past them, muttering about being treated like a class of careless students. Zeref wondered what kind of Fire Wizard he was.

"Well, lucky for these guys, we'll be onboard," Natsu said as the two of them started back towards the house. "They've got nothing to worry about with us around. No monster would ever be able to beat _us_."

Zeref lowered his head to hide a smile. Natsu's confidence always helped put him at ease, although it wasn't the thought of lake monsters that worried him. The dragon was probably right about the monster anyway. With the two of them onboard, it was pretty unlikely that it would get away. Of course, that could just be his own confidence as a wizard speaking. His own talent with magic was the one thing in his life he had never doubted.

On the other hand, they weren't going on this job for the reward money. If the opportunity presented itself, they should really be leaving. Besides, Zeref's presence was more of a hazard to the other wizards than any lake monster.

* * *

 **TBC...**

* * *

 **AN:** Thanks for reading, reviewing, etc.

Hmm, I'm never sure when people ask questions about this story whether they're just musings or actual questions (that you'd like me to answer). Nope, this is definitely not going to just end with them getting together, and we'll hit the original timeline once we get to part two. Similarities and differences? Some similarities, a lot of differences (I'm having fun thinking about potential differences too).

As for when I'll be posting the crossover, probably not until I finish (or get close to finishing) Will to Live. Sometime later this year, I hope? Will to Live is still being relatively cooperative and easy to write, so I'll take advantage of that for as long as it lasts.

 **.**


	23. Duel on the White Hawk

**Disclaimer** : I do not own Fairy Tail.

 **Pairing(s)** : Natsu Dragneal x Zeref

 **WARNINGS: violence, alternative history,** **shounan ai (boy/boy pairing); you have been warned so don't like, don't read**

* * *

 **The Will to Live**

 **By V. Shalyr**

* * *

 **23\. Duel on the White Hawk**

Like Troy and Maki's much smaller vessel, the _White Hawk_ fairly blazed with magic, its wood enhanced with so many enchantments that it almost glowed even to the naked eye. Although the ship had a mast, no sail had been suspended upon it—because it didn't need one. It was not the wind that was going to make this vessel move.

The orange wash of late afternoon made the entire ship look gilded. More like a small cruise liner than a battleship.

Natsu whistled. "There's so much magic that I can smell it. Guess we don't have to worry about that Taiyo guy accidentally setting it on fire."

"I'm more worried about you accidentally setting it on fire," Zeref murmured.

"I could totally burn the whole ship to a crisp if I wanted to."

"I know, and please don't. I don't really like to swim, and I imagine that getting eaten by a lake monster would be... inconvenient."

Natsu cackled and slung an arm around him as they walked up the gangplank. "I didn't let the knights get you. There's no way I'd let a lake monster have you."

Zeref let out a soft sound that was almost a laugh and let himself get propelled across the deck towards—surprise, surprise—the refreshment tables.

"Didn't you eat enough at the house?"

"No way! It was nice of Xander's grandmother to cook all that food for us, especially when she's only just started walking again, but all she served were vegetables. I'm hungry again already. And I smell ham."

"Try to leave some for everyone else."

"I'll leave some for you if you want it, but I make no promises about everyone else."

The other wizards from yesterday evening were still trickling onto the ship. Zeref had been right, and it looked like a good portion of them had returned. Natsu estimated about forty wizards in total.

"You want anything?" Natsu asked, grabbing a plate for himself.

"Just water, please."

"You sure? There's a lot of good stuff."

"I'm sure. Or actually, do they have coffee?"

"Hmmm." Natsu inhaled deeply then said, "Yeah, they've got coffee. Why, planning not to sleep until we get off this ship?"

"Something like that, yes."

Natsu frowned, but moved to pour him a mug of the bitter, black-brown drink from the large, metal pot at the other end of the table. Some things couldn't be helped.

An hour later, the _White Hawk_ slid smoothly away from the dock, directed by the spells woven into it from bow to stern. The enchanted ship had no problems traveling against the current, and its steady progress allowed all of its passengers to appreciate the natural scenery around them. From their spot by the railing near the prow, Natsu and Zeref had an unparalleled view of the river ahead of them where it opened out into the vast expanse of Eden Lake. It was a magnificent sight, and to think that this ship was the only one on the entire lake...

Zeref held his coffee mug with both hands, the warm ceramic helping to ward off the evening chill. Natsu had long since eaten his fill and now stood behind him with his arms wrapped loosely around Zeref's middle. The dark-haired wizard tentatively allowed himself to lean back, ignoring the fluttery feeling that it inspired. The feeling was uncomfortably similar to anxiety, but like he'd noted before, it was not unpleasant. In fact... it might be a little like happiness too, except he really didn't have much experience with happiness and couldn't really compare the two.

Come to think of it, the only emotions he was used to feeling around others these days were panic, despair, and a kind of self-imposed apathy.

Abruptly, Natsu altered his hold on him and lifted a hand to snap his fingers in front of Zeref's face. The wizard started, jerking his head back and turning to try and look at him.

"Natsu?"

"Your mind's wandering," the dragon said. "Sorry, but we can't really afford that right now, right? Besides, I take offense to you thinking about other people while I'm holding you."

Zeref started again at that. "What?!"

"Relax, I was just teasing you. Well... mostly. I should probably warn you that we dragons are very possessive creatures, and we don't really like to share. Hmmm, I wish you weren't wearing this hood."

Zeref puzzled over the meaning behind this last comment for a long minute before giving up and taking a long sip of his coffee. It was incredibly bitter.

Back at the refreshment tables, Taiyo's by now familiar voice let out an indignant shout. "Hey! Who took all the ham? I swear there was at least half a pig's worth right here only half an hour ago!"

Natsu chuckled. This close, Zeref could feel the sound as well as hear it.

"If he'd noticed half an hour ago, he could have fought me for it, but it's too late now. I've already eaten it all. Not that he'd have stood a chance anyway."

Zeref ducked his head and hid his smile behind another drink of coffee.

.

The problem with a ship full of wizards, especially relatively powerful wizards with a handful of dark wizards mixed in, was that you ended up with a lot of overblown egos colliding and ricocheting about. It was rather a lot like being surrounded by squabbling children who all thought they had something to prove. Under other circumstances, Zeref would have happily ignored it all. But unfortunately, one of those egos belonged to his own traveling companion.

Midnight had come and gone with no signs of life from under the water, and the wizards aboard the _White Hawk_ were growing restless.

"You know what?" Taiyo burst out, slamming his empty mug down on the table. "I'm sick of listening to all of you brag! Why did you bother to come along anyway? I'm the only one who's needed here."

"What?" another wizard exclaimed, glaring over the spread of half eaten dishes. "You're the loudest braggart here! I've never met someone so full of hot air!"

"I am _not_ full of hot air! Who kicked your ass in that tournament last year, huh?"

"That was last year. I'm way stronger now. There's no way any Fire Wizard would ever be able to beat me."

"Care to test that?"

This time, it was Natsu who had spoken, and Zeref winced under the shadow of his hood. This wasn't exactly what he considered keeping a low profile. Of course, in this crowd, _not_ saying anything might be more suspicious.

The dragon's challenge startled Taiyo, who turned to him and asked, "Wait, so you're a Fire Wizard too?"

"I'm not just a Fire Wizard. I'm the most powerful Fire Wizard you'll ever meet."

"Hey!"

Zeref fought down the urge to sigh. He was not naturally a competitive person. He just didn't see the point of it. He'd always been extremely self confident as a wizard, and he felt no need to prove his abilities to anyone. Nor did he feel the need for anyone to recognize those abilities. After all, he _knew_ that he was talented.

He wished the lake monster would just attack them already so they could get this escape plan over with.

A woman with black hair falling all the way down past her waist stepped away from the railing towards the center of the deck.

"I have a proposal," she said, waving one pale, elegant hand. "Just to pass the time, how about we hold our own tournament right here and now? This foredeck's spacious enough, isn't it, Captain Remi?"

Standing at the prow, Remi grunted and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Don't be ridiculous, Miss Yumi. If you ruffians start dueling on my ship, you'll sink it before the lake monster even gets a chance to try."

"Oh come now, not one of _your_ ships," Taiyo said, smirking. "You've cast so many protective enchantments on this vessel that even cannon fire would probably just bounce off. Or are you saying you don't have confidence in your own work?"

"You're a fool," the shipwright said flatly.

Instead of launching into another speech on the dangers of dueling on deck, however, Remi turned his gaze on the other wizards. It was obvious that many of them were growing bored, and a ship full of bored, impatient wizards was a disaster waiting to happen. These were the people he was relying on to get this job done? Did they even know how to cooperate on something? Remi had his doubts. He also had the feeling that most of these wizards weren't taking this situation seriously. They hadn't heard the gibbering sailors who had made it back to shore. Nor had they been the ones to fish the splintered remains of the other ships—many of them of his own design—from the strangely murky water. There was a reason Remi and the heads of the merchant company had hired wizards for this job, and these wizards were... sort of missing it.

Back by the railing, Zeref glanced from Natsu, who was still arguing with Taiyo over who's magic was superior, to the woman Yumi, still watching the shipwright, and finally to the shipwright himself, who's expression had gone from stormy exasperation to sudden thoughtfulness. Zeref had a bad feeling about this. Then again, he tended to have bad feelings about a lot of things.

The night was cloudy so the sky was pitch black, devoid of moon or stars. The shoreline had thinned to near invisibility even before the sun had completely set, and so the only source of light remaining now were the magic-powered lamps hung at intervals along the sides of the ship and from the walls of the ship's main cabin. These shed an orange glow over the deck and reflected upon the undulating surface of the water around them, highlighting the foam stirred up by the vessel's passage.

"If you all insist," Remi said, raising his voice and waiting for the remaining chatter to die down before continuing, "then we will hold a tournament. But straight-out dueling is boring and risky to this ship—which is unacceptable. I suggest a different sort of competition."

"We're listening," the tall woman with her hair braided in a coil atop her head answered him, leaning on the bronze staff she'd brought onboard with her.

Remi left his post at the front of the ship and disappeared briefly into the captain's cabin, calling for a few of the other wizards to help him. When they reemerged, they carried four braziers, each one about one and a half meters in height. Rather than fuel or flames, however, these braziers held a collection of rainbow colored crystals the size of chicken's eggs. Under the shipwright's direction, they cleared a space on the deck roughly forty paces long and thirty paces across. The braziers were placed to mark the area's four corners.

"The crystals in these braziers come from a very special mine in the nearby mountains," Remi explained. "When a wizard touches them, they glow quite brightly for a period of one minute or so. You have to do some more fancy footwork to make the light last longer, but that's not necessary for what I have in mind."

He had everyone's attention now.

"When I was still a student, my friends and I invented this game. We played in teams of five, but our playing field was much larger and we had more braziers. So for today, let's say you participate in teams of two. The goal is to light both of the braziers on your opponents' side of the playing field while preventing your opponents from doing the same. Keep in mind, however, that these crystals are also very fragile and break easily. If you so much as crack one, that's an automatic loss. The same goes for any damage you do to the deck, which means that you'll have to exercise some restraint. I don't want to see any splintered wood or scorch marks."

Remi paused to let them all think this over then asked, "So then, are you interested?"

Judging from the murmurs that swept through the gathering, the overall answer was yes.

Zeref glanced back at Natsu, surprised by his silence.

"Aren't you interested?"

The dragon wizard scratched the back of his head. "Yeah, I am, but I can't imagine not damaging anything. And we have to play in teams, but it's not safe for you to use your magic because it'll make you easier to track."

Zeref looked back at the game field where two teams had already assembled and were about to start the first match. The woman with the braid and the bronze staff had partnered with a reedy, dark-haired girl only half her height. The taller woman's staff crackled with electricity, and Zeref guessed that if the "no damage to the ship" rule hadn't been instated, she would have been throwing lightning bolts at her opponents. However, since the rule was in place, she stuck to fighting with the staff itself, which had a "stunning" effect on any opponent it struck. Her shorter companion's weapon of choice appeared to be a thin, nearly invisible thread, which she focused on weaving about the other team's feet. Within minutes, they had their opponents completely immobilized, at which point each of them walked to one of the opposing team's braziers and set the crystals alight by placing their hands upon them.

"Nicely done," Remi said.

The two words had hardly left his mouth before another team stepped onto the field, declaring that they could do better.

This claim proved untrue, although they displayed some visually spectacular spells including a shower of transparent feathers meant to sap an opponent's energy. One of the ghostly feathers fell into a brazier, and Zeref noted with interest that the crystals glimmered very, very faintly in response for just a second before going dark again. So they didn't only react when a wizard touched them. It was probably the magic they were reacting to, and not the wizard specifically.

Hmmm, that could be useful.

"If you really want to compete," Zeref said slowly, "I might be able to think of a way."

"It's not just about if _I_ want to compete," Natsu said, scowling. "If you're not even a little bit interested, we won't do it. Don't force yourself."

Zeref hesitated. Did he want to participate? He had no interest in regular wizard duels, but like the shipwright had said, this was a little different.

"It's not completely without interest," he said finally. "One round shouldn't pose any problems, and as I said, I have an idea. I am curious to see if it would work, although as a strategy, it will probably only be able to win one game."

Taiyo was on the field now, teamed up with the woman Yumi, who had proposed a tournament in the first place. She turned out to be an Ice Wizard, and she was taking a leaf from the thread user's book—creating small patches of ice beneath her opponent's feet to trip them up. When both opponents stumbled, Taiyo seized the opportunity to lunge for the first brazier, which burst into light at his touch. Before he could go for the second, however, the staff wielder had used her weapon to vault across the space between them and swing one booted foot towards his collarbone. Taiyo lifted an arm to block, and the force of the blow sent him skidding backward. After two more thwarted attempts to reach the second brazier, the light in the first brazier faded.

Taiyo cursed. He'd forgotten that the crystals only stayed bright for one minute, which meant that he only had one minute to get to the second brazier after touching the first one. He cursed again when several steely threads lashed around his left ankle and attempted to yank his leg out from under him. He yanked back, sweeping one hand down at the same time in a cutting motion. Emerald green flames flashed, momentarily tracing the threads in green fire, and the small woman yelped, snatching her hands back from the stinging heat.

"Not bad," Natsu remarked. "Do you think his Fire Magic is green for a reason? Or is it just because he thinks it looks cool?"

"It's hard to tell from here," Zeref said, "but my guess is that he believes it looks cool."

"Yeah, you're probably right."

Yumi created several blocks of ice like steps for Taiyo to use. The ice doubled as obstacles that made it more difficult for the opposing team to snag her or her partner with their attacks. Their opponent's spell-reinforced, bronze staff smashed easily through the ice, but its wielder was limited by the reach of her weapon.

"So what was this idea you mentioned?" Natsu asked.

Zeref explained while they watched the rest of the match, which ended when the staff wielder accidentally let fly with a lightning bolt when trying to stop Taiyo from reaching a brazier. The lightning bolt struck one of the crystal, which blazed like a tiny star for a split second then shattered with a sound like exploding glass.

The audience gasped, laughed, and applauded. Amidst the ruckus, the losing team cleared off the field and, after a glance at Zeref to make sure he was sure about this, Natsu stepped out into the vacated space to issue their challenge.

.

Remi stood on one side of the playing field with his arms folded across his chest. From this location, he could both referee the matches and keep an eye on the lake at the same time. He'd seen this game played countless times while he was a student. His magic teacher greatly disapproved of wasting energy, and since most of his students intended to become craftsmen, property damage was also severely frowned upon. Thus simply blasting away with powerful spells was a sure way to lose this competition, as was being too hasty and careless since the crystals broke so easily. That was why it was so difficult to light them from a distance, even though it was possible to do so by tossing magical energy at them. Depending on the nature of one's spells, immobilizing one's opponents and then going for the braziers was probably the easiest strategy since you didn't have to worry about timing. Another popular tactic was to have half the team focus on support and guarding one's own braziers while the other half went on the offensive. This was what Taiyo and Yumi had chosen to do.

When the newest set of challengers took the field, Remi thought they were going to attempt the same thing. The wild-haired one who had introduced himself as Natsu positioned himself in the front of their half of the field while his companion lingered behind him closer to the twin braziers. The wild-haired Fire Wizard, if Fire Wizard he really was, was all lean, wiry muscle and looked more like a fist fighter than a wizard. He wore no coat or cloak, only a vest and long pants, but did not seem at all bothered by the late night cold. In sharp contrast, his partner was almost completely obscured by a long, gray cloak so that all Remi could really tell about him was that he was thin and appeared to have pale skin. That could be black hair showing from under the hood, or it could be some other dark color, made darker by the ship's nighttime lights. What had the other one called him earlier? Era? Strange to be named after a time period, but Remi had heard stranger.

"Ready," Remi called out, lifting one hand, "set, go."

He let his hand drop.

Taiyo immediately charged forward with a battle cry, a small, green fireball springing into life above his right hand. Behind him, Yumi created a wall of ice between her team's braziers and the rest of the field before focusing her attention on the unfolding fight.

Unperturbed by the fireball, Natsu sidestepped Taiyo's attack and grabbed his wrist, using the white-haired wizard's own momentum to send him flying back towards Yumi. Remi expected him to launch straight into an attack of his own, but instead, Natsu remained standing where he was, grinning like a shark still slowly circling its prey. The shipwright raised his eyebrows and glanced at Era. The other wizard's hands were moving, but Remi couldn't tell what he was actually doing. It looked more like he was playing a peculiar game of cat's cradle with himself than spell casting.

"So you know how to fight, huh?" Taiyo commented, falling into a crouch and taking a second to reassess the situation.

Natsu smirked. "Certainly seems so, doesn't it?"

The fight began in earnest then. Knowing that his opponent was also a Fire Wizard, Taiyo went straight for his own fire spells, only just remembering to cut down the power so that he didn't scorch the deck—or any of the spectators, for that matter. In contrast, Natsu used almost no magic at all. He deflected or countered all of Taiyo's attacks with his bare hands, apparently unconcerned by the possibility of burns, and summoned up fistfuls of red-gold fire only to destroy the icy barricades that Yumi attempted to set in place. The air began to grow cloudy with steam even with the breeze carrying puffs of it away.

"Don't underestimate me!" Taiyo snarled, frustrated.

"If you want to fight me at full power, I'm afraid you'll have to challenge me back on land," Natsu informed him, dodging a blast of fire and lashing out with his foot. It connected with the backs of Taiyo's knees and sent him sprawling. "Era says he doesn't want to swim today."

Remi prided himself on his magical perception. He'd been at the top of his class when it came to sensing and identifying spells cast by others. It was also what made him so skilled at illusions and concealment magic. If it wasn't for this, Remi doubted that he would have been able to notice the web of magic that now crisscrossed the playing field. It reminded the shipwright of the threads that the wizard from the first team had used, except that these threads consisted of pure energy and were completely invisible. They ran along the boundaries of the field, high enough to avoid most of Yumi's icy creations, and arched up over the wall she had placed before the braziers she was guarding.

Was that what Era had been doing?

Remi's question was answered when Era's hands stilled and, as though at some unseen signal, Natsu summoned a point of fire like a tiny candle flame and tossed it behind him. Era lifted his hands as though to catch the spark in an invisible net suspended between his fingers, and then suddenly, the ship's foredeck blazed. Golden fire traced a web of lines through the air, racing along the lines of energy and devouring that energy as it went. In the blink of an eye, the two braziers situated at the converging point of all the pathways flared into brilliant, blinding life. For a second, Remi thought that the two had overdone it and the whole lot of crystals would shatter together, but then the radiance dimmed and steadied.

There was a moment of stunned and confused silence in which all the other wizards onboard tried to sort out what had just happened, then several people began to clap. Remi let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding.

Now _that_ was new.

Taiyo dragged his jaw up from the floor and demanded, "How did you do that?"

Before either of the two wizards could reply, someone by the railing gasped and shouted, "The water! Look at the water!"

* * *

 **TBC...**

* * *

 **.**


	24. Shipwreck

**Disclaimer** : I do not own Fairy Tail.

 **Pairing(s)** : Natsu Dragneal x Zeref

 **WARNINGS: violence, alternative history,** **shounan ai (boy/boy pairing); you have been warned so don't like, don't read**

* * *

 **The Will to Live**

 **By V. Shalyr**

* * *

 **24\. Shipwreck**

There were lights under the water—large splotches of yellow and blue that wavered and shifted, distorted by the waves. People gathered along the railing, peering into the murky depths with a mixture of excitement, nervousness, and awe. Whatever was down there, it had to be vast. The lights weren't only on one side of the ship. They could be seen under the water in every direction, surrounding the ship and casting an eerie glow upon the lake's surface.

"Remember," Remi shouted, his eyes never leaving the underwater lights, "if this ship gets destroyed, I've designed it to break apart in such a way that it will release several smaller vessels—lifeboats, if you will. Those will be able to move faster than this, and all you have to do to steer them is tell them what direction you want to go. They should be easier to fight from as well."

A wizard near him exclaimed, "Wait, are you telling us that you're expecting this ship to be destroyed?"

The shipwright didn't answer, but the grim set of his jaw indicated that the answer to that question was yes.

Still standing in the middle of the foredeck where he had been during the game, Zeref could sense something vast beneath the ship. Something unlike anything he had ever encountered before—and that was saying something, all considered.

"What is it?" Natsu asked. He stood beside the shorter wizard, face turned into the breeze and sharp eyes scanning the water for any signs of movement.

"I'm... not sure. It doesn't actually feel malicious though."

"No," Natsu agreed. "It sounds hungry."

"Sounds—?"

Before Zeref could finish asking the question, a shrieking cry erupted from the water along with several long, dark shapes. Zeref's first thought was that they were being attacked by giant serpents, but the dark green coil that lashed around and snapped the ship's prow was not covered in scales. By the light that emanated from patches of strange moss scattered along the creatures' bodies, he could see that they had no eyes or other features, only massive, gaping jaws lined with needle-like teeth.

One serpentine creature lunged for them. Natsu struck it with a blast of fire that , somewhat to his own surprise, set the whole front end of it ablaze. The air filled with the a muddy, acrid stench like burning swamps. It reared back, screaming and thrashing, then plunged back under the water only to be replaced by two other, identical beasts.

"It smells like burnt vegetables," Natsu said, puzzled. "You don't think—could these things actually be _plants_?"

Zeref watched another wizard slice through a giant, green tendril that more resembled a tree root than a tentacle. The severed tip thudded to the deck but continued to twist and writhe, leaking some kind of clear liquid from the wound that very much looked like regular old water.

"Not plants," Zeref said slowly, reevaluating what he had sensed below their feet. "Plant. I think there's only one."

Natsu diverted another tendril attempting to rip off a section of the ship's railing before replying. "So these things are all connected, huh? A giant, carnivorous, plant monster. What do you think is going on in this lake?"

A very good question—which they would have to ask again at a later time.

The lake's surface roiled as though caught in a tempest, coils and tendrils of rubbery green monster churning it into a frothing cauldron bathed in blue and yellow light. The ship rocked and lurched, the enchantments upon it unable to shield it from turbulence of this magnitude. The deck heaved and tilted crazily beneath their feet, sending everything that hadn't been bolted down tumbling towards the waiting water. Dishes, mugs, uneaten snacks, and somebody's purse all disappeared overboard, and they would have been followed by a couple wizards if they hadn't grabbed a hold of the railing before they could be flung over it. The braziers spun past them, one getting lodged between the deck and the railing, and the crystals they had held scattered across the wooden floorboards.

Zeref ducked to avoid being hit in the head by a metal pot and then got tossed up off his feet when the ship lurched, propelled upward by a gigantic wave. Even as the ship fell, the largest of the serpentine appendages managed to wrap itself around the ship's middle. It ignored all the spells that struck it and squeezed. Wooden boards splintered beneath it, and water gushed up onto the deck as the entire ship began to break apart.

This, Zeref thought, was not exactly what he had had in mind when they'd talked of leaving town.

He didn't have time to think about this further, however, because Natsu had grabbed him and was half dragging, half carrying him across the sinking vessel. When the dragon wizard reached the railing, he bundled Zeref into his arms and leapt. Zeref shut his eyes, slightly disoriented, only opening them again when Natsu landed on the lifeboat he'd been aiming for and set him down.

"Anyone else heading this way?" a familiar voice called to them from the front of the boat.

It seemed that they'd ended up sharing a vessel with Taiyo and Yumi. The woman with the bronze staff was there too, firing off lightning bolts at the monster.

"No," Natsu shouted back over the creature's echoing wails. "We're the last ones."

"Right then." Taiyo pounded a fist on the side of the lifeboat. "Hey, boat or whatever, go forward. Forward!"

It was a little inappropriate considering the situation, but the sight made Zeref want to laugh. It just looked so ridiculous somehow.

A second later, the lifeboat shot forward, almost throwing everyone out of it. Natsu crouched, dragging Zeref down with him.

"Not so fast, damn it!" Taiyo shouted, grabbing the side of the vessel with both hands and hanging on for dear life. A serpentine neck loomed up out of the darkness before them, and his shouts turned to, "Left, left, left!"

The boat veered left, almost turning onto its side and forcing everyone to grab for the right-hand edge of the small craft.

"Stop shouting at it!" Yumi cried, lifting an arm to shield her face from an icy spray of lake water. "It must be responding to the panic in your voice."

"I am _not_ panicking!"

"Whatever, just try speaking more calmly, _please_."

It took several more tries, but they eventually got the boat to settle down. Once it had, Yumi switched places with Taiyo so that she could steer while he focused on attacking along with the others.

Flashes of light from various spells lit the night around them, brighter than the glow of the blue and yellow moss. Natsu disposed of another serpentine head with a blast of fire then turned to Zeref.

"Do you have a way for us to hit the main body? There's no end to these things."

Zeref held on to the side of the boat and leaned over a little to peer into the swirling water. It was impossible to actually see anything down there, but the thing was easy enough to sense.

"You said your fire can burn even underwater?" he asked.

"That's right," Natsu said.

"I have a fire spell that can too," Taiyo chipped in, determined not to be outdone.

Zeref considered this. "We might be able to do something similar to what we used in the brazier game, and create a pathway down to the plant's heart with my magic that your spells can use so neither of you have to go down there yourselves. It'll be easier if we could get the plant to stop moving around so much though."

"What about that wizard with the energy sapping spells?" Natsu suggested.

"That might work, provided we can find him." Zeref looked at the other wizards. "I don't suppose any of you are telepathic?"

Unfortunately, the answer was no.

They spent the next hectic half hour careening this way and that through the maelstrom, searching for the wizard from the second match. They did not find him, but they did find a telepath on one of the other lifeboats, and she was able to help them contact the wizard in question and relay their plans. Soon after, the air filled with semitransparent, white feathers like a flock of phantom birds was molting crazily over their heads.

"Tell him to be more careful," Yumi shouted, turning their boat sharply to the right to avoid a cloud of energy-draining feathers. "We still have to fight, you know."

"He says to tell you it's not that easy," the telepath shouted back.

"Do they have to be shaped like feathers?" Natsu asked. "Maybe he can make it look like a giant fish and get them to eat it or something."

The telepath didn't reply, but she had probably heard because the first wave of feathers was followed by a rain of phantom fish. The fish had feathers instead of scales and looked seriously malformed, but they had the desired affect. More than a dozen of them vanished into the monster's many mouths, and gradually, its movements became more sluggish.

"That should be enough," Zeref muttered, hands moving quickly as he took his own raw energy and reshaped it, casting it down into the water. It was largely about picturing what he wanted and then holding that image in his mind.

"Better hurry," Natsu told him, fending off yet another muddy green tendril attempting to lash around their boat. "The longer we stay in one spot, the more it attacks us."

"I know." Zeref finished what he was doing, double checked what he had created with what he sensed from the monster, then said, "Okay. Now."

Taiyo yelped. "Wait, wait! You haven't explained what I'm supposed to do yet."

"Think of it as a fuse line," Zeref told him. "All you have to do is light your end."

It sounded easy, and it _was_ easy... All the way up until gold and green flames collided with the base of the mutant plant beneath the waves and everything exploded.

.

When Zeref opened his eyes again, he found himself staring up into Natsu's worried face. He was lying on what felt like sand, and the sky was streaked with shades of gray.

"I'm glad you're awake," Natsu said, sitting back.

Zeref tried to speak, coughed, then tried again. "I was trying to amplify the flames, but I think I may have overdone it."

Natsu snorted. "Practically blew everyone out of the water. Although it wasn't just the magic. Judging by the smell, the thing probably had a good deal of gas in it."

Zeref coughed again. His throat felt like sandpaper.

"Hold on a second," Natsu said, turning to someone Zeref couldn't see. "Hey, could I get some of that water over here?"

Yumi's voice drifted back to them. "One moment. Taiyo, I told you I needed you to melt this five minutes ago."

"Okay, okay. Sheesh, can't a guy get any rest?"

Natsu helped Zeref into a sitting position and handed him the cup that the Ice Wizard brought over. Zeref held the steaming drink for a moment before taking a sip and asking, "Where are we?"

"Some beach on the west side of the lake," Natsu replied. "We managed to salvage some of our supplies, but the boat was totally destroyed."

"Do you know what happened to the other lifeboats?"

"No, but I'm sure everyone's fine. We were the closest to the explosion, and we all made it out okay."

Even the normal humans.

A small campfire fueled by driftwood burned on the sand a few paces away from them. After melting Yumi's ice to give them a supply of water, Taiyo had flopped back down on the other side of it, visibly exhausted. Down by the water line, the tall, thin figure of the Lightning Wizard could be seen walking slowly this way and that, leaning on her staff while she searched the shallows for any other useful debris.

Yumi seated herself as close to the fire as she could, plucking at her clothes and holding the wet fabric away from her skin.

"You're going to catch a cold, you know," Taiyo said without opening his eyes.

"I'll live," she answered. "It's not like any of us have dry clothes to switch into."

"I told you I'd dry them out for you if you took them off."

"No way."

"Suit yourself. I promised not to look."

She didn't respond to this, saying instead, "We can rest here for a few hours then start heading back to Sage Town. I don't think we're that far away from the river. The shoreline's rough, but with our magic, it shouldn't be too difficult."

"Beats waiting around to be rescued," Taiyo said.

Natsu sat down so Zeref could lean against him. He'd already toasted his own clothes and dried out the other boy's cloak, although he couldn't do much for the rest of Zeref's clothes without burning him. Zeref wasn't shivering though, so it was probably enough for now. Could the dark-haired wizard even catch colds?

"We should probably let you know," Zeref said quietly, looking down into his cup, "that we will not be returning with you."

"What?" Taiyo lifted his head off the sand to look over at them. "But what about the reward money? A share of it's definitely ours."

"We don't really care about the reward money," Natsu said. "We're really just here in this area looking for someone. We already know she's not in Sage Town, so there's no point in us going back."

"Who?"

"A healer called the Ghost Lady. Ever heard of her?"

Taiyo grimaced and let his head drop back to the ground. "Sorry, can't say I have."

He sighed then added, "After I get that reward money, maybe I'll skip town myself. Too many of those Rune Knights around right now. They kind of ruin the atmosphere."

"Talking about the knights?" The other woman had returned. She sat down cross-legged beside Yumi and lay her staff down horizontally in front of her. "By the way, I don't believe I've formally introduced myself to you yet. Era, right? My name is Andrea. It's a pleasure to meet you."

Zeref acknowledged her greeting with a nod.

She turned back to Taiyo and said, "You really shouldn't complain so much about the knights. It just makes you look suspicious, and it's not like you have anything to worry about. At least you're registered with a proper guild."

"And you're not?"

Andrea shrugged. "I'm not, and I don't want to be. They can call me a dark wizard if they want, but I've never hired myself out as an assassin or used my magic to hurt people."

"But why not just join a guild then?" Taiyo asked. "Seems like it would be easier."

"I'm just not interested. Guilds just create more factions and room for conflict. I don't want any part of that."

The others were silent for awhile, thinking this over.

"I guess I can understand that," Taiyo said finally. "There's definitely a lot of politics involved, and I can't deny that there's a lot of that "us" and "them" sort of talk."

"I'm not part of a guild either," Yumi spoke up quietly. "I'm not sure I need to be though. I mean, I already have a steady job."

"Yeah? In Sage Town? What do you do?"

She flushed, the color clear on her pale cheeks. "None of you are allowed to laugh if I tell you."

"Now I want to know too," Andrea said. "We promise not to laugh."

Yumi dropped her gaze to her empty water cup, turning it this way and that. "I help make ice cream in the Crystal Heart sweets shop."

"I've been there!" Taiyo exclaimed, propping himself up on one elbow. "Their ice cream's really famous, you know. I'll ask for you next time I go there, and maybe you can get me a discount. The stuff's expensive for dessert."

Yumi laughed. "I'm glad you like it, but we never give discounts on the ice cream."

The wizards continued to banter, and Zeref listened quietly, tucked against Natsu's side. This conversation felt so normal, and the strange thing was that, even though neither he nor Natsu were joining in on the chatter, they still felt like part of it. Now and then, the other wizards glanced their way to see if they had anything to add. But when they didn't, no one seemed bothered. Perhaps having fought together side by side was helpful in that regard, or perhaps all of them were just accustomed to other people's eccentricities.

Gradually, the conversation died down, and the three wizards made themselves comfortable on the sand for a short nap. After awhile, the only sounds left on the beach were the crackle of the campfire and the hushed melody of the lake water lapping upon the shore.

Zeref shut his eyes, letting the tranquility of the moment settle into his bones. Then he turned his head a little to look up at Natsu.

"Can I ask what you're thinking about?"

The dragon glanced away from the campfire and down at the boy curled up under his arm. Absently, Natsu lifted a hand to tug at a lock of black hair, running the strands through his fingers. After getting doused in the lake, Zeref's hair had dried in a disheveled mess, which was probably a good thing since it made him look less like the sketch on his wanted poster.

"I was just thinking," Natsu said finally, "that maybe being human's not so bad."

"You say that now after getting shipwrecked and attacked by a giant, mutant plant monster?"

Natsu chuckled. "You have to admit that it was kind of exciting."

"Exciting is not the word I would choose."

Zeref let out a soft breath and looked back towards the lake. In the pale morning light, the water had gone from appearing almost black to taking on hues of deep blue and green. There was no sign that any kind of battle had been fought upon it mere hours ago. The water had swallowed up or washed away all the wreckage.

"I'm not sure where we're supposed to go from here."

He felt Natsu shrug.

"Keep following the lake shore towards the mountains. Xander said he'd mail our stuff to the next town over for us—somewhere called Reed. And he'll include any articles he finds that might be helpful."

 _Reed_.

Zeref brought up an image of their map in his mind, trying to remember where that particular town had been located.

"Well, at least we're on the correct side of the lake. Do you think it would be all right if we just left now?"

"While they're all asleep, you mean?" Natsu asked. "I don't see why not. We're not going back with them, so it really shouldn't matter to them. Can you walk?"

"I believe so. I'm not hurt. The backlash from that spell just caught me by surprise."

A whisper stopped them just as they rose to their feet.

"Excuse me."

So the others weren't all asleep after all.

Yumi sat up, rummaged through the supplies they'd managed to fish from the lake, and held a water bottle out to them.

"It might be hard to stay close to the water," she said. "You'll need it more than we will."

"Thank you," Zeref said, accepting the bottle. "I'm sorry that we won't be staying to help."

"That's all right. I'm sure you have your reasons." Yumi hesitated, then added, "A wizard friend of mine got poisoned on a job last year. He said he might have died if he hadn't run into this woman in the mountains."

Yumi waved towards the mountains that loomed along the lake's northern shore. "Apparently, she has a small cottage hidden away up there. He wanted to pay her, but she wouldn't take any money. She had him gathering herbs for her instead, and he said she owned all sorts of spell books he'd never seen before. He wouldn't tell me where she lives exactly because she threatened to curse him if he told anyone., but he said that if I ever needed a powerful healer, he'd take me to see her. And I remember that when he met her, he said he was following a path of white stones, trying to find his way down out of the mountains. I don't know if she's that Ghost Lady you mentioned, but if you need a wizard healer for some reason, maybe you should look for her."

This tidbit of information surprised both dragon and wizard, but they recollected themselves quickly.

"Thanks," Natsu said. "We will."

.

Yumi watched the pair grow smaller and smaller as they walked away along the beach, vanishing after several long minutes around a rocky outcropping. She wasn't sure why she'd told them about her friend's near-death experience in the mountains. Maybe it was because watching them made her homesick. She wondered how Clara was doing, and if the younger woman's parents were still snubbing her. Yumi wished she could be there for her, but all of them needed the money she was making at the sweets shop. If only Clara would agree to move to Sage Town.

"You didn't sleep?" Taiyo asked, sitting up and letting out a huge yawn.

"I'll sleep when we get back to town."

"I hope you don't regret that." He glanced towards the empty spot on the sand and commented, "They didn't say goodbye."

Yumi shrugged. "No, but they asked us to pass on a message to our employers."

"Yeah?"

"They need to send someone to examine the plant's remains and see what caused it to become what it became. If they don't figure that out, it might just happen again."

Taiyo thought this over and nodded. "That should be easy enough to remember. Hey, could I get some more ice? I'm parched."

* * *

 **TBC...**

* * *

 **AN:** I'm glad to hear that the contest part in the previous chapter turned out well. I was worried when I wrote it that it would be hard to follow.

Again, as always, thanks for reading, reviewing, etc.

 **.**


	25. A Shared Moment

**Disclaimer** : I do not own Fairy Tail.

 **Pairing(s)** : Natsu Dragneal x Zeref

 **WARNINGS: violence, alternative history,** **shounan ai (boy/boy pairing); you have been warned so don't like, don't read**

* * *

 **The Will to Live**

 **By V. Shalyr**

* * *

 **25\. A Shared Moment**

They hadn't planned on lingering in Reed. But the workers in the post office where they'd picked up their package talked nonstop about the concert taking place that evening, and then out in the streets, they'd run into a girl passing out coupons for a local hot spring resort—the kind with little, private cabins instead of regular hotel rooms. Due to the lake monster, tourists and other travelers had been scarce, so prices had been reduced dramatically. It really was a great deal, especially after the last few days of unexpectedly difficult travel. It was no wonder that people preferred to cross Eden Lake by boat. Not only were large sections of the shore rocky and devoid of proper trails, all there was to look at when the lake wasn't in sight were rocks and dry, sandy dirt.

One thing led to another, and by the time afternoon rolled around, they'd booked a cabin, taken a bath, and eaten a resplendent meal in a private room at the resort's restaurant. Then there was the wind instrument concert.

"I don't think this is allowed," Zeref said, watching Natsu scale the side of the house.

"Says who?" Natsu asked, holding a hand out to him. "Come on."

Zeref looked at the hand, hesitated, then accepted it and allowed Natsu to help him climb up as well—from the ground to the first-floor roof, then from there to the second and then the third. It was a pretty big building.

"This appears to be a private residence. I imagine that the people who live here would object."

"It's not like we're breaking in," Natsu replied, sounding perfectly reasonable. "We're just borrowing their roof for awhile. They'll never know we were even here."

"What if they come home while we're still here?"

"Then we run really fast."

At the expression on Zeref's face, Natsu added, "We'll pick a spot where we'll be able to see them but they won't be able to see us, all right? Don't worry. Anyway, I'll know if anyone gets close way before a human could actually see anything."

Zeref relented. He was already on the roof after all. It was a bit late to change his mind.

Besides, the concert was starting soon.

This particular roof—covered in smooth, slate blue shingles—belonged to a large house not that far from a plaza where several rows of wooden benches had been set up before a makeshift stage. It was a far cry from the grand concert halls that could be found in cities like Crocus, but that didn't stop people from being excited. It was also free, which was something for people to get excited about all on its own. According to the post office chatter, the concert would serve to showcase the reed pipes and flutes that the town was famous for and provide new musicians an opportunity to be heard. The performers listed in the program for that evening included both master musicians and amateurs, and rumor had it that several of the songs had been composed specially for tonight.

The two wizards settled themselves next to a chimney from which they had a fairly decent view of the plaza. Whether they would be able to hear well enough from here to enjoy the concert, however, remained to be seen. The benches down below had already filled with audience members, who scrunched together to make room for the people who were still arriving.

Good thing the two of them hadn't tried for a spot in the plaza. Zeref would have had to leave almost immediately.

It was a bit chilly up here, but at least it was safe. It helped, too, that the moment they'd sat down, Natsu had pulled him into his arms. Like he'd promised, the dragon was patient with Zeref's skittishness. But he was persistent too, and that persistence was paying off.

" _I don't know how you're doing it,_ " Zeref had told him the night before when they'd made camp in a small hollow with a view of the lake. " _But it's working_."

To which the dragon had simply replied, " _Good_."

Now, settled together on a roof they probably weren't supposed to be on with a concert scheduled to start in five minutes, Zeref found himself unexpectedly at ease. Since they still had some time, he pulled the folded piece of parchment that had arrived with their belongings from his pocket.

"Is it from Xander?" Natsu asked, peering over his shoulder at the page crammed with careful if somewhat spindly handwriting.

"It is," Zeref said, scanning the letter's contents. A crease formed between his brows. "He says there have been several kidnappings in Sage Town."

Natsu scowled. "You mean the kind with ransom notes? Or the kind where you just never see them again?"

"They don't know yet, but he says not to worry because the Rune Knights are helping."

That made Natsu pause. "They are? Did the kidnappers use magic?"

"No, but apparently, the captain that's just arrived in Sage Town said that kidnappings should be everybody's business."

It was obvious from the tone of Zeref's voice that he approved of this philosophy. Natsu did too, actually, which just went to show that even people you considered your enemies could be good people.

The crease in Zeref's brow deepened as he read on.

"Problem?" Natsu asked. He found it difficult to identify any of the words himself. Xander's handwriting seemed designed to be as fancy and illegible as possible.

Zeref rested the letter on his knee and bit his lower lip. "He says... that he's heard they've recruited Dragon Slayers. Two of them, assuming it's not just rumor. They haven't arrived in Sage Town yet, but it's only a matter of time."

Natsu mulled this over. "Well, if they haven't found the kidnappers and missing people by then, Dragon Slayers should be a lot of help. Assuming their dragons taught them properly."

"They might figure out that you're traveling with me," Zeref said, turning anxious eyes to his companion's face.

"So?"

"I don't want to get you involved. They're only after me."

Natsu rolled his eyes. "You do remember how we met, don't you? I got involved a long time ago, and I don't regret it."

"But, Natsu—"

The dragon wizard put a finger to Zeref's lips to quiet him.

"The concert's starting. Really, don't worry so much. It's a terrible way to spend time when you should be having fun."

Zeref looked away, dropping his gaze back to the plaza.

The first song was a duet, played by two musicians using different types of flutes—one high and clear and one low and a little airy. The two melodies overlapped and intertwined in a slow, sweet dance that somehow managed to feel both warm and calm. The audience fell silent, listening, and some of the turmoil in Zeref's heart eased. It really was a beautiful evening.

"Besides," Natsu murmured next to his ear. "It's not about hoping that things don't go wrong. It's about making sure that even if things do go wrong, we make them right again."

.

By the first intermission, Zeref had finally managed to put away his worries—if only for the time being. They chatted about the different songs, guessing at what had inspired them and then checking the notes in the program to see if they'd been right. There were melodies meant to mimic the twitter of birds and the burble of water flowing over rocky streambeds. Some songs tried to recreate the lively rhythm of a midsummer dance or to invoke the forlorn, lingering ache of a heartfelt farewell. And then, of course, there were love songs like that first duet.

"Humans really are weirdly interested in other people's relationships," Natsu remarked after they read the story behind yet another love song—the seventh one so far out of twelve compositions.

"Dragons don't gossip about these things?" Zeref asked, amused.

"Not really. But then I suppose the whole courting process is rather a lot simpler for us. Humans make everything so complicated."

"Do we? I've never really paid attention."

"Yeah." Natsu made a face, although Zeref had his back to him and couldn't see it. "Xander kept going on about things like creating the right atmosphere and what was or wasn't romantic, which didn't make any sense at all. He also told me that it varies a lot from place to place, but it's often traditional to give gifts like flowers. Not very practical, if you ask me. I mean, what good are they? You can't eat flowers."

"You asked Xander about human courtship customs?" Zeref asked, incredulous. " _Why_?"

"Because I wasn't sure if I was going about it all wrong, or if there was something I ought to do that would make it all make more sense to you and help get my point across. I didn't think you'd want flowers though."

"No. They would probably just die."

And that would be... upsetting.

Zeref lifted a hand to the ivory pendant around his neck, tracing the smooth patterns upon its surface. The gesture was starting to become a habit. He felt warm, and it wasn't because the evening breeze had grown any less chilly. It was endearing, the effort Natsu put into trying to understand humans in general and Zeref in particular. He really didn't need to do anything special though.

"For the record," Zeref said quietly, "I like simple. I think simple is good."

The intermission ended and the next song began—an energetic and playful tune played on seven different instruments. It was amazing, Zeref thought, how anyone could come up with seven different melodies that all managed to harmonize with one another. As far as he was concerned, that was far more miraculous a feat than anything magic could accomplish.

When the song ended, Natsu said, responding to Zeref's earlier words, "That's good. I'm not that great at complicated."

Zeref turned to look at him then. The sky had grown dark enough that several lamps had been lit down in the plaza, but there was still enough light up on the roof for Zeref to make out his companion's features.

Natsu caught his gaze and asked, "So... does this count as a good memory?"

The tone of the question was light, but the expression on Natsu's face was serious.

Zeref didn't know how to describe the emotions that flooded him at that moment. They were soft and warm—and possibly a little fuzzy, if fuzzy could be used to describe emotions. He wished he knew how to tell Natsu what he was feeling, but somehow, none of the words that came to mind seemed quite right.

Well, there was one thing he could do that wouldn't require any words.

Zeref hesitated, steeling his nerves, then leaned forward tentatively to brush his lips against Natsu's. It wasn't so much a kiss as an invitation—an invitation that Natsu was happy to take. He pulled Zeref closer and moved a hand to cradle the back of the wizard's head as he pressed their mouths more firmly together. And when he ran his tongue along the line of the wizard's lips, Zeref tensed for only a fraction of a second before relaxing again and letting him in.

Natsu felt a certain thrill when Zeref settled against him, melting into his caresses. Maybe there was something to be said for humans being such warm and soft sort of creatures. Or maybe he was just incredibly biased now because of how much he wanted this human in his arms. This human who was capable of caring so much, who was so sincere in his words and actions, and who shed tears for others as easily as he shed them for himself. This human whose smile and laughter made Natsu grin.

Natsu was absolutely certain of one thing. He was never ever letting this person go.

.

In the end, they stayed in Reed for three nights before beginning their trip up into the mountains. In addition to the concert, they participated in a flute playing workshop their second evening, in which they learned that they were both really terrible flute players. Mostly though, they lazed about the resort restaurant and their cabin, testing out the private hot spring in their yard and reviewing the newspaper articles that Xander had dug up for them on various healers in the towns and villages around Eden Lake. It felt very much like a vacation, and both of them were sorry to say goodbye to the place. But gradually, the passenger ships that used to traverse the lake were beginning to sail again, and so on the fourth morning after arriving in the isolated little town, they packed up their belongings, checked out of the resort which was disappointed to see them and their money go, and continued on their way.

* * *

 **TBC...**

* * *

 **.**


	26. Library in the Cliffs

**Disclaimer** : I do not own Fairy Tail.

 **Pairing(s)** : Natsu Dragneal x Zeref

 **WARNINGS: violence, alternative history,** **shounan ai (boy/boy pairing); you have been warned so don't like, don't read**

 **AN** : Thanks for reviewing. Eh, I love warm, fluffy moments.

A band, huh? That's really cool. I like music, but I don't do much related to it these days. I've always wished I could play wind instruments (thus my choice of concerts last chapter) because I love the way they sound, but I'm terrible on the flute. I guess I'm just more of a strings person.

Anyway, on to the story.

* * *

 **The Will to Live**

 **By V. Shalyr**

* * *

 **26\. Library in the Cliffs**

It was late summer, and they couldn't have stumbled upon a better time to hike through these mountains. The weather couldn't have been more beautiful, and after the first day of walking, the rocky mountainside gave way to lush forests broken now and then by stretches of emerald green grass. Neither of them actually knew where they were going. The only concrete clue they had was Yumi's story and the mention of a path made of white stones, but that was okay. They figured that they would know what they were looking for when they saw it.

Besides, they had a lot on their minds, and they could use this time without the problems posed by the presence of other people to figure out the changes between them. The last two weeks or so had completely redefined the boundaries of their relationship, and they were still working out what those were. Or at least Zeref was still adjusting. Natsu seemed to have his own agenda on the matter, and anyway, he'd had a lot more time to think about this.

Zeref was starting to get used to falling asleep in someone's arms, although waking up was still marked by the occasional moment of horrified panic. A few trees and patches of grass paid the price, but all in all, these lapses weren't nearly as frequent as he might have predicted. Natsu took every opportunity that presented itself to kiss him, although he was always careful to give Zeref a chance to pull away if he needed to. Zeref, in turn, worked on managing his instinctive impulse to do just that. He couldn't always stop himself from tensing up, especially when a touch was unexpected, but—bit by bit—he was getting better.

As he had commented to Natsu, this was actually working. And despite all the new anxieties and bouts of stress that accompanied this new closeness, Zeref found that there was a strange kind of peace too.

This, he thought with some bemusement, was why so many fairytales were love stories.

Not that there was anything magical about their relationship. To call it that wouldn't have done justice to all the effort that they were putting into building it.

.

Natsu took to hunting again, and Zeref cracked down to studying the cookbooks they'd collected—focusing in particular on the vegetables. Deer, boar, rabbit, and poultry were all well and good, but Zeref did, in fact, like vegetables. Besides, they were an important part of a balanced and healthy diet.

Vegetables also didn't scream, bleed, or run away in terror, which Zeref privately thought made them a preferable food source to the animals Natsu preyed on. Of course, when you were immortal and didn't _have_ to eat to survive, you could afford to be picky.

"I never realized how many edible plants could be found out in the wild," Zeref told Natsu one morning over a pot of rabbit stew.

"What I want to know is how people even thought of trying to eat any of those plants in the first place," Natsu said. "It's not like they look particularly tasty. They don't really smell all that special either, although I admit I'm probably biased."

"I assume that a human saw some other animal eating them and decided to give them a try," Zeref said after some thought. "I've always wondered how anyone came up with how to make bread. I don't believe bread occurs naturally in the wild, and it's hard to imagine someone throwing together all the right ingredients by accident."

Natsu laughed. "Yeah, now that's definitely a mystery. Next time we're in a town, we can ask a baker."

Zeref stirred the stew with a ladle. He was growing rather fond of all this collapsible cookware that they'd bought—the metal pot especially. It was all just so convenient. Whoever had designed the things had been ingenious.

When the stew was ready, he scooped out a bowl for himself and Natsu took the rest of the pot. The dragon didn't see any point in adding one more bowl to the list of items they needed to clean when he was just going to finish the rest of the stew anyway.

They'd only just begun to eat, however, when Natsu caught the scent of another human on the breeze. He set down his lunch and glared into the underbrush.

"I don't like people sneaking around us," he said, raising his voice. "I suggest you show yourself if you don't want to be deep fried."

He emphasized this threat by calling up a flame in one fist.

The bushes rustled, and a child stumbled into the clearing, almost tripping over a bramble that snagged at his ankle.

"I wasn't trying to sneak, honest," he said, holding both his hands up in front of him as though to ward them off. "I was just out looking for some stuff, and, um, I haven't had lunch and I smelled the cooking..."

The boy's stomach growled loudly, and his face went red.

Natsu scrutinized him for a moment longer, but the child seemed like he was telling the truth. Several sprigs of a leafy plant were visible peeking out from the basket on his arm, and Natsu could tell from the scent that they'd just been pulled from the earth. The dragon sighed, grumbled a little, and glanced at Zeref, who mutely took out a clean bowl.

The child accepted the bowl of stew eagerly, devouring it in record time and asking hopefully for seconds.

Zeref filled a second bowl for him, although Natsu was starting to develop an annoyed tick on his brow.

"You said you were out here looking for something?" Zeref asked, hoping to divert the dragon's attention to something other than the human child stealing his lunch.

"That's right." The boy jerked his chin towards his basket. "My family has a small farm further up the mountain. Mom and Dad have both been a little sick though, so I'm gathering medicine for them."

Zeref frowned. "So those plants are medicine?"

"Fever reducers, or something like that," the boy said, nodding. "The healer woman told me so, and she knows all about these things."

This finally drew Natsu's attention, and he asked, "What healer woman?"

"She lives in these mountains too," the boy replied quickly, relieved that the wild-haired man wasn't glowering at him anymore. "She doesn't really like to be bothered because of all the research she's doing or whatever, but she'll help you out if you run some errands for her."

"Is that so? I don't suppose you know where we can find her? We've been looking for a healer ourselves."

The child scrunched up his face in thought. "I really wish I could tell you. No one really knows where she lives, or at least no one I know. There aren't that many people around here, and we all live kind of far apart. We just see her around now and then, gathering herbs I guess. And she'll come around to trade for things like bread and eggs."

Zeref tried a different approach. "Is there anywhere around here where you can find white stones?"

The boy brightened. "Oh, that one's easy. You must be talking about Sky Road. Well, we call it a road, but it's really just a bunch of odd pathways that sort of help you find your way through the mountains and sort of don't. People say that they were created when a wizard tried to built a road up to heaven, only it made the gods angry and they destroyed it. The clouds he used for his spell fell to the earth and turned to stone."

The two wizards exchanged looks, wondering if that was what Yumi's friend had spoken of. It sounded promising either way.

"Could you give us directions to this Sky Road?" Zeref asked.

"Sure." The child set down his empty bowl and grinned at them. "It's the least I can do to thank you for the meal."

Later that afternoon found the trio hiking up a steep, dirt path out of the woods and through a field of knee-high, yellow grass. Natsu spotted the first stone almost as soon as the trees began to thin. It jutted up from the rippling, yellow sea like the horn of some giant beast. It resembled the obelisks that the dragon had seen at some human temples, except that it had five sides instead of the traditional four. The entire thing was chalk white, but when they reached it, they found that it was as hard as granite.

The path beneath their feet forked just past the stone, and their guide pointed towards the left.

"There are a lot more of them that way." He swung his finger towards the right hand path. "And my house is that way. I need to get these herbs home and boil them up for Mom and Dad, but if you wait awhile, I can come show you where Sky Road actually starts."

"Nah, that's all right," Natsu said. "Go look after your parents. We've got it from here."

"Are you sure?"

"We're sure," Zeref assured him. "You shouldn't keep your parents waiting. If they're sick, they'll need all the help you can give them."

The child hesitated for a moment longer, torn between keeping his promise to help them out and returning home with the medicine he'd spent all morning gathering. Then he squared his shoulders and nodded.

"I'll be going then. But please come and visit if you come back this way. Mom bakes the best bread on this side of the mountain, and she's been teaching me."

The wizards watched him run off with his basket clutched to his chest. Only after the child had disappeared from view did they return to their examination of the white obelisk.

"I wonder how many families there are living up here," Zeref said, thinking aloud.

"One's already one more than I expected," Natsu said. "I don't recall any settlements on the map. I thought most people preferred to live in and around towns or villages."

"Most people do," Zeref agreed. "It's certainly more convenient, but some people prefer not to deal with the complications that come with living in a community. I can see the attraction. It's rather nice up here."

"It looks like a lot of people have agreed with you," Natsu said, tapping the side of the obelisk. "This has got to be manmade."

"It doesn't appear to be magical," Zeref observed.

Natsu chuckled. "So it didn't used to be a cloud?"

"You can't tell me that you thought that story was true."

"Nah, but it would have been kind of cool." Natsu glanced along the narrow, dirt trail and added, "Come on, I can see the other stones. There are way more of them up ahead."

Like the child had described it, Sky Road turned out to be a collection of sprawling pathways marked by a scattering of white stones. They saw a handful of five-sided obelisks like the first one they'd seen, but there were other things too—cracked, stone spheres and chalk white blocks that looked like they might have once been part of a building. If there had ever been writing on any of them, weather and time had long since worn all traces of it away.

"It's almost eerie," Natsu said, pausing to inspect yet another stone slab that had been split straight down the middle. "Makes me curious what this all used to be."

Zeref surveyed the mountainside, which was covered with the same, strange stone debris. What it reminded him of, he realized, was an old graveyard.

"You can find the remnants of old civilizations in many unexpected places. They perish for a variety of reasons, but more than half of them destroy themselves."

"Yeah? How's that?"

"Some governments become too tyrannical and their people revolt. Some people become too ambitious and want more than they should. The existence of magic doesn't really help. Magic can be a terrible thing. I've seen whole cities that have just disappeared because of it. It can make people arrogant. People start to believe that they can do anything, and they lose sight of what's really important. They start thinking that they can just cast a spell and make the world a better place."

Natsu glanced sidelong at his companion, noting the downward tilt of his mouth. At moments like these, he was reminded that a great many past experiences, many of them probably bad, had gone into making Zeref the person that Natsu knew. Even though they had both been alive for more than a century, their backgrounds meant that they didn't perceive time in quite the same way. To a dragon, a century was hardly any time at all, but for a human, that was an entire lifetime. Perhaps that meant that they experienced the world a little differently too.

There were a lot of comments the dragon could have made, a lot of questions he could have asked. Instead, he grabbed the other boy's hand and started for one of the branching pathways.

"Let's go fishing!"

Zeref blinked, startled out of his solemn contemplations. "What?"

"There's running water nearby. If there's a river, then there's probably fish."

.

Sure, the river had fish in it, but it was a sheer drop of a dozen feet from the edge of the bank down to the water. The entire area was a maze of cliffs dotted with the occasional, scruffy tree clinging to life amidst the crags. There was a waterfall too, a spectacular curtain of silver falling straight down more than a hundred meters and sending up misty clouds of spray.

"If only there was some way to get closer to the water," Natsu said, peering over the cliff's edge. "It's not like we've got anything for a fishing line."

Zeref was looking at the waterfall and the rocky, blue-gray cliff face on either side of it. It could have been a trick of the light, but...

"Natsu, do those look like steps to you?"

"Huh? Steps?"

Natsu followed the direction of his gaze. Some of the shadows there did look a bit unusual.

"They could be, although if they are, whoever carved them didn't do it right. They're not even remotely even."

Uneven or not, they were able to half walk, half clamber up the cascade of steps—up the cliff face alongside the waterfall and then behind it. The tiny droplets flung into the air around them felt cool against their faces and made the rock damp beneath their hands. The climb ended in a cave that extended into the mountainside behind the veil of rushing water, its mouth a jagged crevice in the cliff face completely obscured from view by the waterfall itself.

Standing on the ledge at the cave mouth, Zeref could have reached out and touched the waterfall. It was strange, realizing that he could have wandered this way a year ago and never found this place. Traveling with Natsu was like learning to see the world again. Certainly, he did far more exploring than he'd ever done on his own. Before Natsu, traveling had always been about getting away, never about going to.

"This is pretty cool," he heard Natsu say from farther in. "If it was bigger, it might have made a nice lair. Hey, look at this."

Zeref left the mouth of the cave and followed the sound of Natsu's voice. When he saw what the dragon was examining, he did a double take.

There was a door set into the cave wall. It was carved from the same, blue-gray stone that formed the rest of the cave and was nearly invisible from a distance. The patterns etched upon its face were not unlike the natural grooves and scratches that adorned the wall around it, but Zeref's trained eyes could pick out purposeful patterns carefully worked into the stone.

Natsu felt around the edges of the door, frowning to himself. "How are you supposed to open this thing?"

"Let me try," Zeref said, joining him before the portal and reaching out to trace the engravings.

Before the wizard even had time to begin deciphering the marks, however, the lines began to glow with a very faint, gray-blue light. Then the entire door slid upward to reveal a corridor lit by glowing stones set into the ceiling.

"I think," Zeref said slowly, "that it was designed to open for a human."

"Which probably means that it was created by other humans," Natsu said, peering through the open doorway. "Weird. It smells kind of like a bookstore."

Or a library.

At the end of the corridor, they found themselves in a vast chamber with a long, gently sloping, spiral staircase running along its walls. From beside the stair railing, they could count the levels above and below them—fourteen in all, bathed in a silvery white light that emanated from a giant crystal suspended from the center of the vaulted ceiling far, far overhead. They had arrived upon the fourth level, and if they looked down, they could see a collection of irregularly shaped, stone tables upon the chamber floor. Countless open archways led off of the great staircase—some into hallways like the one through which they had entered and others into smaller chambers lined with laden bookshelves.

"This is incredible," Zeref said, leaning over the railing and craning his neck to look up at the levels above them. "There has to be thousands of books and scrolls in here. But why would someone build a library in these cliffs?"

"It's in good condition, but it smells ancient," Natsu said, glancing both ways along the staircase landing where they stood. "Someone else has been here recently though. Might still be here, in fact."

Zeref frowned. "Where?"

Without a word, Natsu gestured for his companion to follow him and started up the steps to their left. Every time they reached a landing, Zeref kept expecting them to turn into one of the branching rooms or hallways, but they had gone up almost five levels and passed more than three dozen archways before Natsu stopped. The dragon's eyes narrowed, and he held out an arm to prevent Zeref from stepping past him. The wizard opened his mouth to ask him what was wrong, but before the words had even left his mouth, he spotted movement from the far end of a row of shelves.

A woman stood there, her right hand raised—just about to pull a leather-bound volume from the shelf. When she noticed them, she left the hand drop and turned to face them, frowning.

"You smell like someone I know," Natsu said with a scowl. "But I know you're not her. Who are you?"

The woman's forehead wrinkled, and her gaze swept over the young man who had addressed her.

"Are you a Dragon Slayer?" she asked.

"No, I'm a dragon."

"I see." The woman let out a distinctly grumpy sigh. "I expect that means you know Grandeeney. This is why I hate dealing with dragons. It always feels so awkward. I had to change my name because of you people."

Natsu blinked, startled by her tirade, then asked with some incredulity, "Wait, you wouldn't happen to be Porlyusica, would you?"

The woman's lips tightened, and her stare grew suspicious. "That's me. Who's asking?"

* * *

 **TBC...**

* * *

 **.**


	27. Healer from Another World

**Disclaimer** : I do not own Fairy Tail.

 **Pairing(s)** : Natsu Dragneal x Zeref

 **WARNINGS: violence, alternative history,** **shounan ai (boy/boy pairing); you have been warned so don't like, don't read**

* * *

 **The Will to Live**

 **By V. Shalyr**

* * *

 **27\. Healer from Another World**

The woman before them was... younger than they had expected. As a rule, highly knowledgeable and powerful wizards tended to be... on the elderly side, especially in areas like healing and medicine. This person looked barely into her twenties, although the stern set of her features did give her appearance a certain gravitas.

"So you're Igneal's son. It's been a few years since I last spoke to him—or any other dragon, for that matter. What about you?" She directed this question at Zeref. "I know you have to be human, because you two couldn't have gotten in here otherwise."

The dark wizard should have been prepared for this question, but with the eventful journey they'd had thus far, he hadn't actually gotten around to thinking about what he would tell the healer about himself when—if—they found her aside from the facts of his curse.

"I'm currently going by Era," he said, reaching for the first name he could think of that wouldn't immediately link him with rumors he didn't want to be linked with.

"Currently going by?" she repeated dryly. "Never mind, it doesn't matter. So the two of you were looking for me?"

Natsu answered for the both of them. "Yeah, we thought you might be able to help us."

Although now that they had found her, they weren't so sure about this.

After outlining their situation for her, Natsu said, "Dad told me that you're a really great healer, and that you've got experience with breaking curses."

Porlyusica didn't respond right away. The three of them were seated around one of the stone tables on the bottom floor of the great library. A pot of tea sat in the middle of the smooth tabletop along with a bowl of fruit and a plate of sliced bread.

The young woman took a sip of her tea before she spoke, the long, pale pink locks that framed her face swaying with the motion. "I'm probably not the kind of healer you think I am. You see, I can't actually use any magic, not like you can."

"But anyone can use magic if they want to learn," Zeref said, bewildered.

"That's true in _this_ world," she replied, "but where I'm originally from, magic doesn't work that way. We have to rely on magical tools."

"You mean you really are from another world?" Natsu asked, intrigued. "That's cool, being able to travel to different worlds."

"I didn't come here by choice," the healer snapped. "I fell through a rift in space and ended up here years ago. I've been trying to find a way to return home."

Oh. Well, that was certainly a different story. Traveling to other worlds was one thing. Being stranded in one not your own was something else entirely.

"Does that mean you can't help us?" Zeref asked, looking up from his own untouched cup of tea.

"That depends." Porlyusica rested her elbows on the table and laced her fingers before her, inspecting the two wizards over her clasped hands. "I've found that people in your world rely too much on magic more often than not. When you encounter a curse, the first thing you think of is countering it with another spell. Sometimes, that works. But from what I've seen, a lot of curses break by themselves when the conditions are right."

Natsu scratched the back of his head. "Meaning what exactly?"

"Meaning," she said, "that I can't break your curse for you, but I might be able to help you break it yourself."

She paused for a moment to let this sink in then said, "I'm surprised that someone was actually able to curse you though. I was under the impression that Fire Dragon Magic was extremely corrosive to other types of magic."

"It is," Natsu said. "It surprised me too. I guess the wizards who cast it must have been really, really terrified of me turning back into a dragon. Since I was already in my human shape at the time, all the curse had to do was stop the transformation."

"So a simple spell fueled by powerful motivation," she mused. "I suppose that explains how it's lasted this long. I don't suppose you remember how many wizards there were?"

"I know I took something like a dozen knives and money pouches from them, and I don't think any of them carried more than one of each. So probably about twelve."

The healer raised her eyebrows. "You robbed them?"

"Hey, they were the ones who were trying to kill me. I figured I had the right. I mean, I could have killed them instead. They owed me something for my trouble."

Fair enough.

"Have you actually tried to transform back recently?"

"Uh, no, I guess I haven't."

He hadn't exactly had an opportunity to. Back in Incense Wood, they'd run into Xander, and then after that, it had been one near disaster after another. And... well, Natsu had sort of been having fun as a human.

Porlyusica shook her head in mild exasperation. "Well, this library has another entrance that opens into an uninhabited valley. When I'm done with my tea, we can head out there and you can try to transform. We can figure out how to handle things from there."

"Uh, thanks. Not to seem ungrateful or anything, but you agreed to help way more quickly than I expected."

The healer looked down into her teacup, tilting it slightly so that the light reflected upon the tea's surface shifted and rippled. "Your father helped me out when I first arrived here. I don't like to deal with dragons, but that doesn't mean I wasn't grateful."

Here, she frowned and looked at Zeref. "You, however... Your case is a lot more complicated. I'm afraid that it's most likely beyond my abilities."

The dark-haired wizard lowered his head. "I understand."

The stern edges of the healer's expression softened a little. "I've learned a great deal about magic and medicine from studying the records in this library, but I've really only scratched the surface of all the information that's stored here. Just because I don't have answers for you doesn't mean they don't exist. I can refer you to a few sections that might be of help to you."

He nodded, although his gaze remained fixed on the contents of his own teacup. "Thank you."

.

It felt, if not the same as when he had first tried to transform after the curse, then at least very similar. Natsu would summon up the power he needed for the transformation, but then it was like all of it ran up against a glass wall. The magic just wouldn't quite take hold, and he ended up with a storm of flames instead.

Porlyusica took a step back from the library doorway and raised an arm to shield her face from a gust of searing wind.

"So it's more like your magic is being diverted to a different spell rather than simply being stopped," she observed, squinting through the fiery maelstrom. "That explains why you haven't just been able to shatter it. It's trickier than a simple barrier. I'll need you to try it a few more times so I can see how that's actually happening."

Natsu let the magic dissipate. It was a good thing that this valley was mostly rock and dirt. What vegetation had managed to survive here was probably going to end up reduced to ashes by the time he was done.

"I'm starting again," he told her.

But he'd no sooner gathered the energy this time when it slipped away from him. He cursed.

"Watch your mouth," the healer snapped. "I don't approve of such language. Are you even trying?"

"Of course I'm trying!"

"Well, it doesn't look that way to me. If you're not going to focus, I'm not going to waste my time."

Natsu let out a frustrated growl, but he couldn't really argue with her. It was just difficult to concentrate on this right now. His mind kept wandering back to a certain dark-haired wizard that he'd left back in the library. Zeref had told him to come out here and do this, but still... The wizard had to be feeling dejected. Was it really okay for him to be alone right now? Zeref wasn't the kind of person who dealt all that well with being left alone with his own depressing thoughts. Natsu ought to know that by now, so what was he doing out here?

Porlyusica regarded him with pursed lips for a moment then sighed. "You really care for that boy, don't you?"

Natsu dragged his attention back to the present. "Yeah, I do. He's important to me."

The healer turned her head to glance back over her shoulder down the hall towards the main chamber. She couldn't see the boy from here, but they had left him sitting at the table where they'd had their discussion. He could still be there, or he could have found somewhere else to think.

"Living like that would be hard on anyone with half a conscience," she acknowledged. "Frankly, I don't know how he's coped with it for as long as he has. I'd have lost my mind a long time ago."

She shook her head. "Well, we won't get anything done when your mind's obviously elsewhere. If you're that worried, go talk to him."

Natsu looked away. He wanted to, but...

"I feel kind of bad," he admitted. "I was the one who convinced him to come here with me. But now it looks like I'll be able to fix my problem, but he won't."

"And is he the kind of person who would begrudge you that?"

"No, he isn't."

It was one reason Natsu loved him. Zeref would be genuinely happy for him. He wasn't the kind of person who would go drawing comparisons between their situations and holding petty envies. He might be somewhat fragile emotionally and have a distressingly low perception of his own worth, but he had a very strong and stable sense of self.

The healer's lips twitched as though she was suppressing the urge to smile. "Then what are you waiting for?"

.

Natsu found Zeref sitting outside on the ledge before the waterfall, watching the water rush past—a moving wall between them and the rest of the world. The wizard's head was bowed and his shoulders were slightly hunched beneath his dove gray cloak.

Natsu sat down next to him and asked, "You okay?"

Zeref scooted closer to him, curling against Natsu's side and resting his head against his shoulder. He was obviously feeling down, Natsu knew that—had expected it—but the dragon couldn't help being pleased that the wizard apparently found his presence comforting and would willingly seek him out when distressed.

"I didn't really expect her to be able to help me," Zeref admitted after a moment's silence. "I hoped, but deep down, I don't think I ever truly believed that it was possible. I'm not sure why I'm letting it bother me this much."

Natsu put an arm around him and rubbed soothing circles on his back. "You're just disappointed. That's perfectly understandable."

Zeref sighed. "I suppose."

"I'm... kind of disappointed too," Natsu told him. "I'm sorry that she can't help you."

"Please don't be. It's not your fault."

"You know this doesn't change anything, right?" Natsu asked. "I still want you to stay with me."

There was a pause then Zeref nodded against his shoulder.

"Thank you."

Natsu glanced down at the black hair on the top of his head, surprised. "For what?"

As far as he was concerned, it seemed like his talking the Black Wizard into joining him on this journey was what had led to this disappointment. Not that Natsu felt guilty about that or anything. If given the chance to relive that encounter, he would still have done the same thing.

Zeref let out a long sigh that seemed to take all—or at least most—of the disappointment in him with it. "For making me feel like I actually belong somewhere."

Yes, the wizard was disappointed, but the problem of his curse no longer felt as all-consuming as it had before. Like Natsu had once said in the past, there still might be other ways to dispel it. And even if there wasn't, there might be other ways to live with it. It was no longer the only important aspect of his life. He was going to be okay.

* * *

 **TBC...**

* * *

 **.**


	28. Autumn Rain

**Disclaimer** : I do not own Fairy Tail.

 **Pairing(s)** : Natsu Dragneal x Zeref

 **WARNINGS: violence, alternative history,** **shounan ai (boy/boy pairing); you have been warned so don't like, don't read**

* * *

 **The Will to Live**

 **By V. Shalyr**

* * *

 **28\. Autumn Rain**

Settling down in the library turned out to be surprisingly easy. Under different circumstances, living in a library might have felt rather inappropriate, but this particular library had been built not only as a repository of knowledge but also as a hideout.

" _A hideout from what?_ " Natsu had asked when the healer explained this to them.

" _Isn't it obvious?_ " Porlyusica had replied dryly. " _From dragons_. _Why do you think the door wouldn't open for you?_ "

Because of this, several sets of rooms on the first floor had been designed as living quarters. There was even a bath, which included an enchantment for heating the water diverted from the river.

The healer woman herself had a small cottage tucked amidst the woods not that far away. She frequently made trips to the library to study and to check in with Natsu on his progress.

" _She wants me to meditate at least half an hour twice a day and just focus on summoning up a lot of power and maintaining it—like I would if I was going to transform only without actually trying to make the change_ ," Natsu had told the other wizard their first morning in the library, disgruntled. " _She thinks I should be able to just erode the curse that way. It makes sense and all, but I'm terrible at meditating. It's so damned boring_."

" _Try to think of it as wizard training_ ," Zeref had advised him. " _It will improve the control you have over the amount of energy you use when casting spells. That is an incredibly valuable skill for any wizard, no matter how much raw power you have available_."

Besides, boring or not, the healer's suggestions were working, and so Natsu kept his grumbled complaints to a minimum.

In the meantime, Zeref lost himself in the countless books and scrolls within the library itself. Porlyusica was right. There was so much information here, gathered by wizards and scholars from ages past, and there was certainly plenty for him to learn. Zeref didn't really believe that any of it would help break his curse, but he liked learning—and besides, Natsu was insistent that there was no reason to stop hoping. Hope was important. It stopped you from giving up, and the battle only ended when you gave up.

Natsu conducted his meditation practice after breakfast and before dinner out in the valley where an excess of magical energy wouldn't destroy anything. He usually went hunting after the morning meditation, restless from sitting still and doing nothing for so long. When he got back, he'd eat lunch with Zeref, and they'd spend the afternoon talking over whatever the wizard had been reading that day. Zeref had a habit of thinking out loud to himself, and Natsu loved listening to the quiet murmur of his voice when he mused about this or that. The dragon began looking for his own books to read too—mostly for practice, but also because Zeref had piqued his curiosity about what could actually be found in them.

Zeref often joined Natsu for his evening meditation, seating himself just inside the library doorway where any accidental flames wouldn't burn him. His presence was a little distracting to be honest, since Natsu often found himself sneaking glances at him instead of concentrating on his own magic, but the dragon never told him so. He liked having the boy around too much, and anyway, Zeref looked peaceful when he was meditating. Natsu liked that look, and he didn't get to see it as often as he would have liked.

Their days settled into a comfortable routine broken by the occasional field trip when they'd just head out and spend a whole day wandering about the mountainside, exploring and helping Porlyusica gather the herbs she needed for her work. The healer was helping them out, after all, and it was only right that they do something in return.

Then, in the midst of autumn, the rains started.

.

When Porlyusica glanced out of her cottage window that morning to see the pale patch against the gray rainclouds, it took her several seconds to realize what it was. When it finally hit her, she ate the rest of her breakfast quickly and grabbed her cloak from where it hung on a hook beside the front door.

"Honestly," she muttered. "They couldn't pay attention to these things themselves? I thought they were supposed to be clever."

And to think both of those wizards were more than five times her age.

When Porlyusica arrived at the library, she went straight through to the valley. There was so much steam in the air that she could barely see the person causing it.

"You're practically sending up a beacon to everyone in the area that there's something going on here," she said, not bothering to raise her voice because she knew the dragon would be able to hear her. "Give it a rest for today, or do you want a bunch of curious humans coming up here?"

"What are you—" Natsu glanced up at all the steam caused by his magic evaporating the falling rain and ended with an, "Oh, got it. And I was so close too! I think I might be able to do it soon."

Natsu grinned at her. "Hope it's not too much of a shock for the locals if they see a dragon in the sky. I promised Zeref I'd take him flying."

The healer shook her head and turned her back to him. "You two are disturbingly sweet. Go on, get back inside. I'll stay out here until the steam clears and make sure no one shows up wondering what started the fire."

"Thanks."

Porlyusica watched him disappear inside then turned her gaze back to the rain. The steady drumming of the raindrops upon the earth was rather soothing. For as long as she could remember, it had been a constant in her life, even after finding herself alone in a world she knew nothing about. Water was the element of life, something almost all living things needed to survive, and listening to the rain reminded her of how all life was, in some small way, connected.

Unfortunately, it made her sentimental too.

She exhaled slowly and sat down in the open archway to watch the rain fall.

.

The first storm was followed by a second, this one laced with lightning and punctuated by rolls of thunder so loud they could hear it even from within the cliff. The healer ended up appropriating a suite in the library for herself so she didn't have to make the trek from her cottage through the rain. She'd half expected the two wizards to use this opportunity to hold up together. When neither of them were working on something specific, they could almost always be found in the same room at the very least. So she was surprised to run into Era sorting through books alone on one of the higher levels of the library on their third afternoon trapped indoors.

Mostly, he caught her attention because he was searching through a section she was perusing herself, and it had nothing to do with magic, curses, or medicine.

"Dragons?" she asked, raising her eyebrows. "Wouldn't it be easier just to ask him anything you wanted to know?"

Dark eyes glanced up at her then back down at the book in his hands.

"I would, but... it's not like there is anything in particular that I want to know. I just want to understand him better. Where he's coming from."

"And these documents are helping?" she asked.

He let out a rueful sigh. "Not really. Most of this seems to be on how to avoid being eaten."

Which, of course, had been a subject of vital importance to the former inhabitants of this place.

"There are a few records on other things," she said, moving past him to pull a scroll from the collection on the rack against the far wall. "These scrolls mostly talk about their magic. For anything else, try the top shelf by the door. I believe there's at least one volume on general behavior."

He thanked her, and she left without another word. She wasn't sure how much help these records would be to him, but she could understand not wanting to ask. It would be awkward without specific questions. After all, if you asked a human what it was like to be a human, she doubted any human could easily give a sensible answer. Well, other than "complicated" perhaps.

She ran into Natsu at the first floor tables where she'd gone to brew herself some tea.

"And what are you reading?" she asked, glancing at the book in the dragon's hands.

"Huh?" He pulled his gaze from the page to look at her then went back to inspecting the book. "I'm just checking a few things. You two were right. You really _can_ find practically any information you could want in a library this size."

The healer couldn't quite believe what she thought she was looking at.

Natsu must have caught the strange expression on her face, because he raised an eyebrow and said, "What? I want to make things official, but I also want to make sure I don't hurt him. I need to know what's similar or different. We mostly rely on instinct for these things, but I don't think humans work that way. It's not like dragons spend time sitting around thinking about human relationships."

That was... very logical.

"I'm sorry," she said, and it was the first time she had uttered an apology of any kind to anyone in a long time. "It's just... a strange thing to walk in on someone reading."

And kind of embarrassing, if she was completely honest with herself. Healer she might be, but she didn't have so many years and experiences under her belt yet that such things didn't make her blush at least a little. She picked up the teapot and poured herself a cup of tea, giving herself some time to recollect her thoughts.

"Have you actually asked him?" she asked, curious despite herself.

"Asked him what?"

"If he'll marry you."

"Marry? Oh, right, that's what humans usually call it, isn't it?" The dragon appeared confused. "I thought he'd already agreed. Am I supposed to ask? Like with actual words?"

It was Porlyusica's turn to be confused. "Well, that is what humans usually do. Don't dragons ask?"

"Of course we do! Just because we don't live together in large groups like humans do doesn't mean we're uncivilized. We take choosing mates very seriously. In fact, from what I've seen, I think we're way more serious about it than most humans are. But for us, it's more about body language than words."

The healer nodded. "I see. I meant no offense."

She excused herself after that to do her reading on a different floor.

That evening, she moved all her things from the room she'd been staying in to another room as far away from the two wizards as she could get. Whatever they did or did not do and when they did or did not do it, she didn't need to know.

.

The constant patter of the rain outside and the perpetual overcast caused by the storm clouds made it easy to lose track of time. The days blurred together, marked only by mealtimes and breaks to rest—which took place with only approximate regularity. Then again, the passing of time wasn't a concept that had mattered all that much to him in awhile. Whether it rained for a day, a week, or a year stopped feeling so important when you measured your life in decades and centuries.

Generally speaking though, Zeref disliked the rain. It didn't make him feel down or anything—it was nothing so poetic as all that. It was simply that, with all the time he spent outdoors, rain usually meant being cold and wet, and he found being cold and wet to be rather unpleasant. When you already felt miserable, it only made things worse.

But things were different now, and not just because he was in a warm, dry building rather than out in a chilly, dank wood. Being cold wasn't always about the weather.

Zeref shut the book he'd been reading with a sigh and looked up at the shelves around him. Honestly, the more he read, the more he wondered just what had happened to the people who had built this library. Whoever they had been, they had clearly known a great deal—certainly much more about magic and its workings than Zeref would have predicted. What had caused them to abandon this place? Had they fled? Been killed? Been taken away? Chosen to leave for some other reason?

"Hey."

Zeref turned his head towards the doorway, unsurprised to find Natsu standing there. The dragon had been spending a lot of time with him since the downpour prevented him from working on his magic outdoors. If Natsu tried to practice indoors, he'd probably just burn the whole library down. Instead, the dragon lounged about in whatever room Zeref was in—sometimes reading something himself and sometimes listening to the wizard's musings.

"Is it still raining?"

"Yeah."

Natsu moved around the ladder leant up against the set of shelves carved into the wall nearest the archway and sat down next to him.

"It looks like the people here did quite extensive research on the influences of magic on the human mind. Some of these scholars believed that mankind's survival depended on unifying the many different groups of humans living scattered throughout the region at the time, but there was far too much strife amongst the different groups and very little willingness to compromise."

"What does that have to do with magic?"

"Well, I suppose some people thought everything would work out if they could get everyone to share the same beliefs and values. That would be a gross simplification of why humans fight each other as often as they do, of course, but it's understandable in its way."

Zeref picked up another book, intending to see what else these scholars had to say on this subject, but Natsu tugged it from his hands and set it back on the pile that the human wizard had placed by his knee.

"I need to talk to you."

Zeref faced him once more, puzzled by this deviation from their usual routines.

Natsu waited until he was sure he had Zeref's full attention before saying bluntly, "I want to make you my mate, and I want to make it official—if it's all right with you."

 _O—kay..._

"Is this some strange dragon version of a proposal speech?"

"You can call it that if you want."

"I didn't think dragons did proposals. I thought I'd already agreed to be your mate awhile ago."

After all, neither of them were the type to go for casual relationships.

"That's what I thought too," Natsu admitted, scratching the back of his head. "But Porlyusica said that I should still ask with actual words and make sure we were on the same page."

"Well, I suppose that _is_ generally advisable."

The corners of Zeref's lips twitched. It seemed like both of them had been working rather hard to try and ensure they considered things from the other's point of view. That was good. Relationships couldn't last otherwise, but it was also kind of funny because—since they hadn't actually consulted one another on the matter—it meant a lot of unnecessary confusion. In that respect, this conversation was probably a bit overdue.

Natsu was still giving him an extremely serious look.

"But, uh, how should I put this? Just in case you didn't realize, we don't just say a few words in some ceremony and call it official. We're really more about actions than words."

"Um, yes, I assumed that that would be the case."

It occurred to Zeref that if this conversation had been happening between any other two people, it would have been a lot more awkward.

"And for the first time, there will be some magic involved too," Natsu added.

This gave Zeref pause. He hadn't known that. "There is magic involved in dragon mating customs?"

"There doesn't have to be," Natsu amended. "A lot of pairs don't bother with it these days because of certain risks and other factors, but I want us to have a proper bond—if it's possible. I mean, I'm not sure how it'll actually affect a human or if it'll even work, but if it does even half of what it's supposed to, I think it'll help with some of our problems. And since you're not an ordinary human, I don't think the magic will hurt you. Unless you think I'm wrong, in which case I won't try."

The dragon stopped and gave him an expectant look.

"I can't really offer an opinion without more information," Zeref said.

Natsu let out a frustrated huff. "Yeah, I figured as much, but I'm not good at explaining these sorts of things."

"Well, perhaps if you start by telling me what this bond is supposed to do?"

"It's supposed to mean you'll never feel alone," Natsu said wryly, reaching over to place a hand briefly on the wizard's chest above his heart. "Some dragons don't like that about it, since a lot of us like being alone. But for some others, it's reassuring."

Zeref was fairly sure that he himself fell into this latter category. Before Natsu, loneliness had been slowly driving him mad. So that was what Natsu meant by helping out with some of their problems.

"Also, I'll always know where you are, and you'll always know where I am. If we ever get separated for any reason, we'll always be able to find each other again, no matter how far apart we are. A lot of the time, you're also able to sense how your partner is feeling."

"That doesn't sound particularly risky," Zeref commented. In fact, it mostly sounded kind of nice and rather useful.

"Technically, it's not supposed to be. It can make some dragons a bit unstable, but only in certain circumstances," Natsu said. "What you need to know is that it is a really major spell and involves quite a lot of magical energy. It takes a lot of power to link souls together, after all, and it only works if both people really want it to. It's also basically permanent. It's almost impossible to break the connection once it's been made, so you can't really change your mind about it afterwards. Or you can, but it can be a bit of an ordeal."

"Linking souls?" Zeref repeated, surprised.

Natsu shrugged. "That's how we think of it. What, is that strange?"

"Um, no, just... unexpected. I've always thought of Dragon Magic as more elemental and straightforward."

"Most of the time, I suppose it is. But we live in a dangerous world after all. This bit of magic came about because it lets mated pairs keep track of one another even if they have to split up in order to hunt. As I'm sure you've noticed, we kind of eat a lot. It's not always practical to hunt together. It also allows them to respond quickly in case of danger or injury."

Zeref sorted through all this new information in his head before saying, "I suppose it's probably never been done with a human before, so we don't have any references?"

"No," Natsu said. "Dad knew a dragon who fell in love with a human before—even lived as a human so he could stay with her in town—but he never tried to create this kind of bond with her. Um, he was afraid the amount of magic he'd have to use would kill her."

Ah.

"If that's the main concern, then I doubt we have to worry."

"That's good," Natsu said with a sigh of relief. "We shouldn't have any problems then."

There was a brief silence in which Natsu studied Zeref's face and the wizard dropped his gaze to the books he'd pulled from the shelves. None of them seemed all that interesting anymore though. He fidgeted with the heavy fabric of his robes until Natsu reached out to pry it from his fingers.

"I'm not a mind reader, you know."

Zeref looked down at their hands. It was strange sometimes to think how normal they must appear to people who didn't know them. After all, who would guess that one of them only _looked_ human while the other—the one that actually _was_ human—had long ago lost the ability to age or die.

"When... were you thinking... exactly?" For some reason, Zeref found it hard to look at Natsu while he asked this, so he kept looking at their hands on his knee instead.

"I did promise you that I'd be patient. I'm just letting you know that it's on my mind, and you can let me know when you're ready."

Zeref sighed at that. "I wish you wouldn't leave it up to me. I'm not comfortable with these decisions."

The dragon definitely sounded amused when he replied, "Well, in that case, I could just choose a moment and go for it, and you can tell me if you start feeling overwhelmed."

The wizard gave this serious consideration then nodded. Yes, he would prefer that. That way, he didn't have to think about all this.

"So," Natsu said, releasing the wizard's hand so he could pick up one of the books. "Tell me more about what you were reading. These are what, journals from the people who lived here?"

Zeref could still feel his touch as a burning tingle on his skin, but he tried not to think about it. Instead, he picked up another book, grateful for Natsu's attempt to put him back at ease. So maybe that conversation _had_ been a little more awkward than he cared to admit.

"Some of them are journals, and some of them are meeting transcripts. The ones written by this woman are probably the most interesting, if you want to read one."

Natsu peered at the name written in the bottom corner of the cover. "Diana Senza?"

"That's right. She appears to have been a very deep thinker, and she wrote quite well."

"A deep thinker, huh? So what did she think about?"

"A lot of things, but mostly, she thought about human nature."

"A lot like you then."

"Like me? I suppose so. Although I've never been interested in trying to change humanity as a whole."

"I say that's a good thing," Natsu said dryly. "You said it yourself. You can't just cast a spell and make people better people."

Zeref nodded. "To really change people, you have to be able to reach their hearts. That's not something magic can do, but it's easy when you start learning magic to believe that it can do anything."

Natsu chuckled. "You sound so philosophical. Reading all this looks like a pain though. Why don't you just summarize the interesting bits?"

"Well..." Zeref paused, trying to decide what Natsu might find interesting. "Apparently, there should be an entire wing to this library that we haven't seen yet. They even built an underground greenhouse so they could grow their own vegetables with spells to transfer the sunlight from outside."

"A whole other wing? Hey, if there was a map in there, we could go look for it. I've never seen a greenhouse before."

Zeref scanned the shelves and selected a different volume. "Let me see. I think I saw a map in this one."

* * *

 **TBC...**

* * *

 **.**


	29. Echoes

**Disclaimer** : I do not own Fairy Tail.

 **Pairing(s)** : Natsu Dragneal x Zeref

 **WARNINGS: violence, alternative history,** **shounan ai (boy/boy pairing); you have been warned so don't like, don't read**

* * *

 **The Will to Live**

 **By V. Shalyr**

* * *

 **29\. Echoes**

Porlyusica raised her eyebrows when her gaze landed on the dark-haired wizard seated at the breakfast table.

"What's the matter with you?"

Era jerked his head up from where he'd been about to fall asleep in his oatmeal, blinking dazedly in the healer's general direction. "I'm sorry, what did you say?"

Porlyusica shook her head. "You should either eat that or go to bed."

Era looked back down at his unfinished breakfast, seemingly surprised to find that it was there. He picked up the spoon and slowly began to eat.

"You should take better care of yourself, even if you are immortal," the healer observed.

Era shrugged. "Natsu says that too. Honestly though, I simply forget sometimes. I was working on something and lost track of time."

"Working on what?"

Porlyusica had to admit to being curious. These were wizards after all, and extremely knowledgeable ones at that.

"Natsu and I found an additional wing to this library."

"Really?"

Era nodded and gestured with his free hand towards one of the archways leading off the second floor.

"It's behind the tapestry of the waterfall. The door opens the same way as all the other doors around here. The greenhouse chamber doesn't have any plants in it anymore, but it's still a sight to behold. They layered the vegetable beds to make watering them easier, and the spells for channeling sunlight are still working. It's like being able to see the sky even though the place is underground."

"And exploring all this kept you awake?"

"Well, no, not exactly," Era replied, and the healer thought he looked almost embarrassed. "We found another door that won't open. The carvings upon them that are meant to be magical are difficult to distinguish from the carvings that are not, and parts of the masonry are damaged."

"In other words, it's stuck," Porlyusica said dryly, "and you didn't sleep because you spent all night trying to open it?"

"Basically, yes."

Somehow, she wasn't surprised.

"I assume you've compared it with the doors that do work?"

"Hmmm?" Era stirred his oatmeal, pushing what was left of it to one side of the bowl and watching it ooze back. "Yes, I have. Actually, I think I've almost gotten it figured out. There appears to be a lull in the storm, so Natsu's gone out. I'm going to fix the door while he's away, and we'll see what's inside when he returns. Are you interested?"

"The two of you can tell me about it when you find out."

For her part, the healer thought that after she ate, she'd take a look at this greenhouse room he'd mentioned. If it had been well designed, she could probably find a good use for it.

.

When the intricately carved door slid aside, it revealed a chamber completely unlike any other room in the library. The two wizards lingered in the open archway, surprised and admittedly impressed.

The floor of the oblong chamber was a pure, snowy white that emitted a faint glow like moonlight. The chamber's walls glistened in this light, the soft iridescence glimmering in shifting waves across the clear water that flowed in a constant, thin curtain down across the dark blue stone.

The cool smell of fresh water and damp rock filled the air, and when Zeref took an experimental step forward, he felt the faintest tingle of magic upon his skin. At the same time, a wall of runes written in blue-white light materialized upon the air, dividing the long chamber at its midpoint to form two square spaces. Upon closer inspection, the wall of runes consisted of not one but three layers so that the individual marks became difficult to distinguish, blazing like a network of tiny, oddly shaped stars. When they peered past this seemingly insubstantial and yet impassable barrier, they could see a complicated magic circle carved into the floor beyond, although a fragment of the pattern appeared to have been removed, leaving a roughly triangular indentation.

"Did the wizards here make this?" Natsu asked, squinting through the web of tiny lights. "It certainly looks like a magical artifact if I've ever seen one."

"I think so."

Zeref placed a hand on the magical barrier and gasped. His vision blurred and the steady hush of flowing water was drowned out by a cacophony of voices.

" _We should never have created it in the first place_ ," someone was snarling, voice hoarse from too much emotion and overuse.

" _I agree. I say we destroy it_."

" _No! We've put far too much work into this!_ "

" _That's right. We've made far too many sacrifices. I can't believe you're getting cold feet now._ "

There were so many voices, arguing, shouting—making demands—and growing louder and more chaotic by the second. The chamber faded in and out of focus, distorted by shadowy figures that Zeref couldn't quite make out. He received the general impression of movement mixed with a bewildering wave of intense emotions—frustration, anger, shock, fear, and grief. This was followed by an intense, stabbing pain that sent him reeling back away from the wall of runes. He could smell blood now too, an insidious tang of copper that overwhelmed the clean scent of the water and made his stomach roil with revulsion.

Strong arms caught and steadied him, and the confusion of shouts and screams became distorted and stuttering.

"Hey, what's wrong?"

Zeref wrenched his mind free of the scene of violence with a gasp and found himself staring wide-eyed into Natsu's concerned face. His heart hammered in his throat, and he thought he could still smell the blood—feel it even, drenching his robes and spilling across the white, white floor. With that blood had come memories, fragmented and confused—and tainted with anguish that raked at his own heart with its painful intensity.

"You're shaking," Natsu observed.

His hands were on Zeref's shoulders, and the wizard noticed for the first time the fading wisps of black fog in the air around him.

"I think," Zeref said slowly, struggling to recollect himself, "that someone was murdered here."

And it _had_ been murder—not a duel or an attack by outsiders.

"That's probably why they abandoned this place. It wasn't just a simple argument."

He paused for a moment to regulate his breathing before continuing, "Do you remember what I told you about the original inhabitants of this library? About them wanting to use magic to change the world?"

"Yeah, I remember. You mean these lunatics actually went and tried to build something that would let them control the way everyone in the world thinks?"

"Apparently so, and this," Zeref gestured around them at the chamber, "was it. The wizard who was killed did a lot of the magical work on this place, so when he was killed here, the emotions of the event left... echoes."

Echoes that still made his skin crawl.

"Which you probably picked up because you're really perceptive when it comes to magic," Natsu concluded.

The shadowy fog had finally dissipated.

"Most likely, yes." Calm once more, Zeref indicated the wall of runes—still glimmering as before but somehow more sinister now than beautiful. "That barrier, the victim cast it before he died. I expect that's the main reason no one tried to use the artifact. They couldn't get to the magic circle to activate it. The spell's grown weaker over time, but it's still quite strong. It must have been very impressive when it was first cast."

"Guess we'd better leave it alone then, huh?"

"Yes."

Zeref shivered. Had this chamber always been so cold? Certainly, the water running down the walls would carry away quite a bit of warmth.

"Do you mind if we go sit outside for awhile?" he asked, looking from the glimmering barrier back to Natsu's face.

"Sure. It's still raining, but the cave with the waterfall door should be dry. Want to bring a book?"

Zeref nodded. The dragon had taken a liking to listening to him read out loud, and he was more than happy to oblige. It was such a luxury to have someone to talk to while he read, someone he could share and discuss his thoughts with.

So they left the strange, white room, shut the elaborate door behind them, and went outside, grabbing a book and a blanket on their way. They had done this enough times already to have a favorite spot where they could settle themselves—a place from which they could watch the waterfall and where an angle in the cave wall prevented them from being easily spotted from the doorway. And when they paused to talk only a few chapters into the story and their conversation wandered elsewhere, that was okay too. Natsu regaled him with tales of a forest he'd once flown past where he had ended up fighting with all sorts of carnivorous flowers for his meals. It was puzzling how these plants could devour entire wild boars and make all that protein disappear into orange blossoms and green leaves. Zeref liked listening to Natsu's stories just as much as—if not more than—he liked to read, and by the time the gray daylight on the other side of the water veil had faded to midnight blue, Zeref had mostly managed to forget about the bloody crime that had occurred downstairs, the echoes of hate that sank like ice into his bones, and the sickening stench of copper made worse by the enclosed space and the moisture.

Mostly.

After all, it had all happened a long time ago. Not only that, but it had happened to someone else. Someone he didn't really know.

Then again, if Zeref was that good at letting things go, he wouldn't be who he was. And even if he hadn't known the person, he had an unpleasantly good imagination.

.

Zeref jerked awake, his eyes snapping open as his consciousness struggled free of confused but vivid nightmares that seemed to be a mixture of the murdered wizard's memories and his own painful shards of recollection from the early days when he'd still been struggling to understand and cope with the curse. There had been so many visions of death that the horror and dread of it had finally bled together into a numb coldness that seeped into the very marrow of his bones. He had learned—really, truly learned—what despair felt like and just how powerless magic really was to change people's lives.

Zeref dragged his eyelids up, blinking in the darkness of the room they had chosen to make their own in the library. It was one of the smaller rooms that could be found in the collection of living quarters, but it had stood out to them because of the mural that covered one of its walls. Like all the other living spaces, the magical lights in the ceiling brightened and dimmed with the sun outside, and by their glow in the morning, the mural was a spectacular landscape of clouds with half a dozen colorful boats sailing through this ocean in the sky. The artist responsible for the fantastical scene had suffused the image with a lively, playful energy that was at once cheery and wistful. Zeref wished he could see it now so that its bright colors could replace the dark flickers still grasping at the edges of the shadows before his eyes.

"It's still bothering you?"

The quiet question from behind him told Zeref that his bedmate was awake.

"No, it just... brought up some things from the past."

"You mean your past?"

Zeref nodded, his cheek sliding against the cool pillowcase. It was almost weird how often he'd been able to sleep in an actual bed lately. Surreal even. Practically normal.

"It's been a long time since I've thought much about it."

"I know you don't like to talk about it," Natsu said, thinking back to the start of their travels when they'd first begun exchanging stories.

"No, I don't," Zeref agreed. He was quiet for a moment then added, "I've accepted the fact that I can't change the past and there was nothing else I could have done, but it's still a bad time to think about. I am... not good at letting go. Then again, I suppose it's the past that makes us who we are. Even if we were to forget our past experiences, it's difficult to imagine that those experiences would not still influence how we feel and behave at least a little. It's not that easy to change the people we have already become."

"Do you think that's a bad thing?"

Zeref thought for a moment.

"No," he said. "After all, that's essentially what it means to learn, isn't it?"

Natsu sounded amused when he replied, "You know, before I met you, I never realized that anyone sat around and thought so much about these things."

"You might be surprised," Zeref said wryly. "I've known more than a handful of individuals who spend a great deal of their time asking such questions about the world."

"Yeah? Can't say it sounds like a healthy pastime."

"You might be right about that," the wizard admitted. "Although they also tend to be the people who go on to make the kinds of discoveries and inventions that change the way we live. Of course, whether those changes are for the better, it's hard to say. Sometimes, no matter how hard you work and how good your intentions, everything just goes wrong."

"And sometimes, things go right even without people trying," Natsu pointed out. "A lot of times, things just don't go the way you expect. It's practically a rule of the universe. It doesn't have to be bad."

The dragon wizard gathered the boy closer to him. "Have I ever told you about the marshmallow fruit trees?"

"The what?"

"Well, that's just what I call them. They probably have a proper name too. They're these trees you get in some places further south that grow bunches of fruit that taste like marshmallows—if you can crack the shells open anyway."

"Is this something you dreamt about, or something you've actually seen?"

Natsu snorted. "I'm not making it up. There used to be a giant grove of them by this human village."

"Used to be?"

Natsu's reply was laced with rueful regret. "I stopped by for a snack one time, and it turned out that if you roasted them, the shells got all sweet and crunchy. I, uh, wasn't as careful as I should have been and ended up burning the whole grove down. No one was hurt, but it was such a shame—the trees being as rare as they are. I felt guilty about it for days. But you know, I flew past there a couple years later, and the entire area had been turned into farmland. Turns out the ash from those trees was special and the villagers were able to build a bunch of new farms because of it. Before that, they'd fallen into hard times because their crops hadn't been growing well, so the fire turned out to be a blessing for them. You really can't know how some things will pan out."

"I suppose they weren't angry then?"

"Nope. I was going to apologize because Dad insisted that it was the right thing to do even though the grove wasn't technically theirs, but when they saw me, they gave me a sheep and did a funny dance. It was kind of strange, and I ended up just leaving again. Turns out their local deity looks a lot like a dragon these days."

Zeref chuckled. He could imagine how befuddled the dragon must have been. Humans could be strange about superstitions and customs.

"There," Natsu said, sounding very satisfied with himself. "I knew I'd get a smile sooner or later. I think I'm getting rather good at this, don't you?"

"Yes, you are." Zeref turned his face towards him even though, unlike Natsu, all his eyes could pick out were shadows. "I forget that you can see in this darkness."

"Well, it's almost never really completely dark. Human eyes just aren't that great at taking advantage of what light there is."

Natsu propped himself up on one elbow so he could look down into the other's face.

"You don't get much color in this kind of darkness though."

"Hmmm, I suppose you wouldn't."

Natsu brushed a few errant strands of inky hair out of the wizard's eyes so he could see them better. The expression in them right now was rather soft and slightly bemused, since he could sense Natsu studying him but couldn't actually see him doing so.

"It's still raining," Natsu said. He could hear the rhythmic patter of it upon the earth, faint and far away—and smell it too. It was a clean, fresh smell, and mixed in with all the other scents was the mellow and slightly sweet undertone of old forests and autumn leaves. It reminded him of the person next to him and made him want to smile too.

Zeref shifted a little self-consciously after several long seconds had ticked by.

"Please either do something or lie back down. You're starting to make me nervous."

"Well, we can't have that, can we?" Natsu smirked and leaned down so that his next words were murmured against the other boy's lips. "I vote that I do something."

And then he kissed him—softly at first then fiercely when Zeref responded after only a moment's hesitation. Natsu thought he tasted not unlike the way he smelled, although the dragon wouldn't have been able to describe it if asked. He was no poet and had never been that great with words. It was enough for him to know that he liked it, just as he quite liked the little sounds he managed to coax from the other wizard's lips—a hitch of breath when Natsu's hand found its way under the loose tunic that Zeref had begun wearing to bed, a soft gasp when Natsu shifted to exploring the delicate line of his throat with his mouth, the scrape of teeth that were a little too sharp to be entirely human making Zeref tremble.

Natsu could practically hear his partner's frantic heartbeat, and he grinned into the hollow just above the boy's collarbone.

Tentatively, Zeref moved to tangle his fingers in the other wizard's tousled hair and asked, voice a little breathless, "You're going to choose after I have a nightmare?"

Natsu chuckled, and Zeref squirmed a bit at the odd sensation of it against his throat.

"Like I said," the dragon murmured, his breath hot against Zeref's ear as he shifted to pin the wizard more firmly underneath him, "stop me if you're uncomfortable."

Zeref nodded shakily, trying to ignore the warm shiver that ran down his spine. He didn't tell the dragon that he had already resolved not to.

* * *

 **TBC...**

* * *

 **.**


	30. An Impossible Choice

**Disclaimer** : I do not own Fairy Tail.

 **Pairing(s)** : Natsu Dragneal x Zeref

 **WARNINGS: violence, alternative history,** **shounan ai (boy/boy pairing); you have been warned so don't like, don't read**

* * *

 **The Will to Live**

 **By V. Shalyr**

* * *

 **30\. An Impossible Choice**

The Crystal Heart sweets shop, situated on one of Sage Town's bustling main streets, had seen plenty of unusual customers since it had first opened its doors. Not only did it serve some of the best ice cream on this side of Eden Lake, it boasted a magnificent seating area with floor to ceiling windows and tables of tinted glass. The owners of the shop always made sure to have fresh flowers on the tables, and unsurprisingly, the place was a favorite meeting place for couples both young and old. However, it wasn't just people looking for a beautiful spot to spend some time with a partner who found their way to the sweets shop.

The two men currently seated at the corner table had to be some of these, since they obviously weren't here to have fun.

From behind the ice cream counter, Yumi kept casting the occasional glance their way. It was the first time she'd actually seen any high ranking members of the Rune Knights up close, and she was wary but curious.

One of the men wore the uniform of a captain complete with a heavy, white cloak and silver armor. His plain, dark brown hair was cut short in a stern manner that suited the grim cast of his face. His only really outstanding feature, however, was his slightly crooked nose, which looked to Yumi like it must have been broken at least once. If she'd been keeping track correctly, he was on his third mug of coffee, and his expression seemed caught somewhere between boredom and annoyance.

In contrast to the captain, who was clean shaven, his companion appeared to have grown out his chestnut beard just so that he could stroke it thoughtfully while he talked. Yumi wondered if he believed it made him look more sophisticated while, in fact, she thought it made him appear shifty and self-important.

This second man wore no armor, only a set of elaborate, white robes embroidered with runes, only half of which Yumi recognized from her own wizardly studies. He was only on his second cup of coffee, but he'd already eaten just as many slices of ice cream cake.

"Hey, come on," a voice she'd heard far too often lately pulled her from her thoughts. "What are friends for if they can't help you get a discount now and then?"

Yumi sighed, but didn't turn to look at the white-haired man seated before her counter. "I don't recall ever saying that I was your friend."

"That's pretty cold, you know, even if you are an Ice Wizard."

Despite his words, Taiyo seemed more amused than offended. He shifted on his stool to follow the direction of her gaze.

"Better not stare too hard. They'll notice eventually. One of them's a captain, and they're generally no slouches."

"I know that," she said. Then an idea struck her and she eyed Taiyo. "How about this? You get a table over there and let me know what they're talking about, and I'll let you have at least two scoops of ice cream at half price for the next week."

The Fire Wizard grinned. "Deal. I'll start today with one mint chocolate and one mango."

That said, he rose and sauntered over to appropriate an empty table near the knight captain. Yumi shook her head, not quite able to believe how quickly he'd agreed, then set about getting the ice cream he'd requested. When she walked over to place the bowl before him, he winked at her and dug in without a word. She shook her head again, this time in exasperation, and went to get him a mug of coffee as well. It would be suspicious if the knights were still talking when Taiyo finished eating and he didn't have something else at his table.

That done, Yumi returned to her counter to deal with the other customers trickling into the shop. The storm outside had abated somewhat, and people were taking advantage of the respite to get out and about.

Yumi had just prepared several slices of strawberry ice cream cake for a group of young students when Taiyo made his way back to the counter.

"I think the other guy was from their research and development department or something," he reported, making a face. "He kept going on and on about some old civilization that's rumored to have once existed around here somewhere. Guess they were supposed to have had some pretty powerful spells at their disposal. The captain—Edrik, I think—just wanted to know about the men he'd brought with him."

Yumi frowned slightly, looking through the shop windows at the light drizzle. This news made her uneasy for some reason, but she couldn't quite put her finger on why.

"So, you going to tell me why you're so interested?" Taiyo asked.

Yumi hesitated then replied, "The one with the beard, I didn't like the looks of him. He just seemed far too..."

She trailed off, struggling to find the right words.

"Full of himself?" Taiyo suggested.

"No, that's not it. Just far too... interested. Almost greedy." She sighed. "Never mind, forget I said anything. Autumn always puts me in a bad mood."

"Why?" he asked, genuinely curious. Taiyo quite liked autumn himself. The scenery around the lake was always spectacular this time of year.

The Ice Wizard shrugged. "Because it's the season when everything dies."

Or at least that was how she'd always thought of it.

.

"I feel... a little strange."

Natsu cracked one eye open at the quiet comment, glancing down at the boy curled against his chest. He was far too comfortable and content to really want to wake up yet, but this sounded important.

"Strange how?"

"Just... strange."

Zeref couldn't find any other word for it. For one thing, he'd known the moment he woke that Natsu was with him. Of course he'd known on an intellectual level that the person holding him had to be Natsu, since—aside from the familiarity of it—there was simply no way he would allow anyone else this close to him. But this... This had been different. This knowing was bone-deep. Even if all his other senses had been switched off somehow, he would have _known_ that it was Natsu next to him. It was a soothing sort of knowledge and brought with it a sense of security that he seldom experienced first thing in the morning when his mind was still trapped on the border between reality and dreams.

It wasn't just that either. The entire world felt a little different, although he couldn't quite describe how or why.

"You're not in pain, are you?" Natsu asked, concerned by his vague responses.

"No," Zeref assured him, opening his eyes and shifting in his partner's arms so that he could peer up at him. "I think... it's probably related to that awareness you spoke of. It's... slightly disorienting."

"Oh." Natsu relaxed and settled down again, although he was now far too awake to go back to sleep. Instead, he ran a hand along the wizard's bare back, tracing the dips in his spine. "But you're okay, right?"

Zeref closed his eyes and nodded. "It's... interesting. I'll get used to it."

He paused then added, "I think I'd like a bath though."

"Hmmm, how about some breakfast first?"

"Okay."

"Right, I'll go get us something."

Natsu yawned and slid off the bed, grabbing his clothes off the floor and pulling them on as he went. Zeref watched him go. It seemed as though he ought to feel as though something momentous had happened, but mostly, he just felt... happy and kind of peaceful. The feeling lasted until the moment Natsu disappeared into the hallway, at which point Zeref sat bolt upright with a startled gasp.

"Natsu!"

The other wizard was back in the room in an instant, frantically demanding, "What?"

Zeref's heartbeat calmed, and he met the dragon's worried gaze with a bewildered one of his own.

"Perhaps I should come with you," he said finally when his breathing had evened out again. "I'm sorry. I'm not sure what happened just now."

"Are you sure you're feeling all right?" Natsu asked, picking up the other wizard's discarded robe and helping him into it. "We _are_ living with a healer, you know."

"I suppose I could speak to her. But really, I'm quite certain that I'm all right."

Porlyusica was already seated at the table where they usually ate their meals, meticulously piecing together a sandwich for herself. She took in their rumpled appearances without comment.

"The rain should lighten up by tomorrow," she told them, "which means I'll be heading out to check on my cottage and drop in on a few families. Colds are common once the autumn rains start."

Zeref eased himself into one of the chairs opposite her, hesitated, then said, "Um, Natsu wants me to talk to you and make sure there's nothing wrong with me."

The healer raised her eyebrows. "Shouldn't you know that better than anyone?"

"Well... It's kind of difficult to explain. Natsu did something with his magic last night, and we just want to make sure it didn't have any negative side effects on me since I'm human. I do feel a little strange."

At the other end of the table, Natsu picked through the selection of bread, cheese, fresh fruit, and smoked meat while he listened. It looked like sandwich was the only real option they had for breakfast. There was that oatmeal stuff, but Natsu wasn't a fan.

"I see," the healer said slowly.

Zeref looked away from her and towards his partner. The healer's gaze was a little too sharp. He had the feeling that she knew exactly what he was talking about.

She confirmed this a moment later by saying, "If I remember correctly, it was largely about a sense of awareness, yes?"

At the expression on his face, the healer added dryly, "Believe it or not, there _is_ actually some information about that in the scrolls. Nothing specific, of course, mostly just that mated pairs often seem to share an empathic link that makes them especially dangerous to encounter, since if you start a fight with one of them, you end up fighting both. It doesn't matter how far apart they are. They can always find each other, and they always know if the other is hurt."

Well, that made this easier.

Zeref nodded. "But there seems to be something else."

"You're going to have to be more specific," she said.

Natsu sat down next to Zeref and set a plate on the table between them. He'd thrown together one giant sandwich and cut it into several thin slices. Zeref picked up one of these and nibbled on it.

"I can... hear the rain outside," he said finally. "Or I think I can. At least... I know it's raining. I feel like I can almost hear it, almost smell it, but not exactly."

Porlyusica considered this answer for a moment then asked, "What about you? Can you hear the rain?"

This was directed at Natsu.

"Huh?" The dragon glanced at her. "Yeah, sure, I can hear the rain. Quite clearly, in fact. It makes the air different too, even though we're inside."

"Hmmm." The healer took a bite of her sandwich, chewing slowly and then swallowing. "I expect that that's your answer."

Zeref thought this over, reexamining the past few minutes of conversation. "So I'm essentially getting echoes of how Natsu perceives the world?"

"That's what it sounds like," she said. "Echoes is a good word, since it's not that your own senses have changed."

Zeref looked at Natsu, who shrugged.

"Like I told you, it's never been done with a human before."

Porlyusica shook her head. "What did you think would happen? You've gone and let a dragon tie your soul to his. Dragons are powerful magical creatures. I don't care how amazing a wizard you are. You should have expected to experience changes."

That said, the healer finished her breakfast and excused herself to check over her medical supplies before tomorrow. The wizards watched her go, then exchanged somewhat rueful looks.

"Sometimes, she makes me forget that we are actually older than her," Zeref said with a sigh.

Natsu grunted. "I'll say. It's not like we don't know what we're doing."

Zeref chuckled. "I don't know. I'm not sure that we do. But I'm certain that we will figure things out."

First though, breakfast and a bath.

.

When Porlyusica saw the two wizards again that afternoon, Zeref was standing amidst the first floor tables, his head tilted back as he watched his partner ascend the spiral staircase.

Natsu paused five floors up and called down, "How about now?"

"Keep going," Zeref called back.

Natsu frowned but continued walking. Another floor up and Zeref began fidgeting with his sleeves.

Natsu stopped immediately and looked back over the railing. "I don't like this. I can feel you getting anxious."

"I know. Please, just stay there for a moment."

The dragon scowled. "I didn't create this connection so you could hurt yourself with it, you know."

"I'm not, I promise. I just need to figure this out."

Zeref closed his eyes and forced himself to relax. He could sense Natsu moving farther away from him as an unpleasant tug that made him itch to follow. It had to be a byproduct of the part of this bond that let him know where Natsu was. At the same time, he could feel the dragon's presence like a strong and steady warmth in his chest. He had to learn to focus on this second feeling instead of the first one. It was difficult because he was so much more accustomed to feeling negative. Being negative came more naturally and was more familiar, but that was no excuse.

Right. Focus. It was a little like meditating, only he was focusing on the warmth of Natsu's presence instead of his own breathing.

Okay, this was working. Good.

Zeref relaxed a bit more and opened his eyes again.

"Natsu, could you go up another floor?"

The dragon expelled a discontented sigh, but did as he asked.

The healer kept one eye on the pair as she set up her pestle and mortar on a table and began sorting through her bags of dried herbs. They were an unusual duo, that was for sure. But... she had to admit that part of her was starting to like having them around.

.

True to the healer's forecast, by the following morning, the rain had completely stopped. Even the gray storm clouds seemed to have temporarily moved on, leaving the heavens blue and bright. Natsu resumed his daily meditations, and Zeref went back to his studies. Sometimes, the wizard brought his books out to the valley so he could read where Natsu was and enjoy the fair weather while it lasted. But at other times, he made himself remain indoors so he could practice focusing on the feeling of not being alone as opposed to the feeling of distance.

Porlyusica didn't move back to her cottage since the storms were expected to return, but for the time being, she began making trips out across the mountainside. They didn't ask her what she did on these trips, but she often returned with various supplies from freshly gathered plants to chicken eggs and fresh bread.

Zeref knew the exact moment that Natsu was able to transform back. The rush of exhilaration was so powerful that he found his own heart beat speeding up with excitement. He replaced the book he'd just pulled from the shelf and hurried out of the room, down two loops of the spiral staircase, and out through the hallway that led to the valley.

He stopped in the open doorway, his breath catching in his throat. It had been awhile since he'd seen a dragon from this close by the light of day. He'd almost forgotten just how massive they were.

The late morning light gleamed on crimson scales so dark that they were almost black. If unfolded, the wings currently tucked along his back would have blotted out a good portion of the skyline. Lime green eyes focused on the dark-haired human, and the beast lowered his spike-crowned head towards him.

"It worked," Zeref said, leaning forward to hug the dragon's snout—or as much of it as his arms could reach. "I'm glad."

Natsu chuckled, and hot air ruffled the wizard's clothes.

"It's been so long that it almost feels weird."

The words rumbled in the dragon's chest as he sat back on his haunches and gave his wings an experimental flap. Zeref lifted an arm to shield his eyes from the resulting gust of wind. He wasn't sure how he could tell—it wasn't like he'd had much experience with dragon facial expressions—but Natsu appeared pleased.

"Well, it's all coming back to me. So what do you say? Want to go flying?"

Before Zeref could reply, a woman's voice spoke up from behind him.

"You could go flying, but I thought you might want to know that one of my former patients just gave me an apple pie fresh from the oven. It's still warm, but I'm not sure how long that will last."

The dragon hesitated, glancing from his partner to the clear skies then the healer in the library entryway.

Zeref smiled, amused by how difficult this choice appeared to be. "Let's go try the pie before it gets cold. We can always go flying later. It doesn't look like there will be any more rain until tomorrow at the earliest."

"I'm sure the pie will be worth it," Porlyusica said, heading back into the library. "I got a blueberry pie from the same woman earlier this year, and it was just about the best bit of baking I've ever had."

Natsu shifted back into the human form Zeref was familiar with, and the two wizards followed her inside.

.

"You know, it's rather ironic that he fell in love with a Fire Dragon. Or that a Fire Dragon fell in love with him."

Natsu polished off his last bite of apple pie, which really was delicious with all the cinnamon and cream cheese, and looked at the healer.  
"What's that supposed to mean?"

Porlyusica pulled her gaze from the archway through which Zeref had disappeared. The wizard had gone to fetch his cloak from the room he shared with his partner since Natsu suspected that it would be cold for a human up amidst the clouds.

"Only that, of all the types of dragons there are out there, it's ironic that he ended up with the one kind of dragon with magic that might be able to make a difference to him," she said carefully. "Since you two are as close as you are, you may be able to do some work with his magic. He would probably not find it overly intrusive."

"What are you talking about?" Natsu asked, puzzled.

"I was talking about his curse," she clarified, getting straight to the point. "It would take a lot more time, but I was thinking that it may be possible for you to do the same thing for him that you did for yourself."

"Really? Are you serious?"

For some reason, the healer wouldn't look at him.

"It's not impossible. But the two of you should think carefully before you attempt anything." She finally lifted her gaze to meet his. "You do realize, don't you, that if the two of you manage to break his curse, he won't be standing still in time anymore? He'll most likely live out a normal human lifespan."

Natsu froze. He... really hadn't thought of that, and horribly selfish though it might be, his heart twisted rebelliously at the mere suggestion.

"Give yourself some time," the healer advised, her voice unusually kind. "Think it over, and talk to him. This is a decision that you'll have to make together."

"Natsu?"

Zeref was back, the gray cloak Natsu had gotten for him draped over his shoulders. His worried eyes searched Natsu's face. He had probably sensed that the dragon was upset.

"Is something wrong?"

With great effort, Natsu forced a grin. "No, nothing's wrong. Let's go. If we time it right, we'll be able to watch the sunset from up there."

He could tell that Zeref wasn't convinced, but the wizard let it go. If Natsu didn't want to talk about it right now, then they wouldn't. Zeref had all the time in the world to wait.

Of course, that didn't mean that Zeref stopped worrying. Natsu barely said a word as they made their way back out into the valley, and after they had taken to the sky, the wind roaring past them would have made conversation difficult anyway. The excitement and anticipation from earlier had evaporated, replaced by a brooding silence. And when they retired to bed that night, there was a fierceness to the dragon's touches that left Zeref gasping and shivering—and wondering why that fierceness seemed edged with something not unlike desperation.

* * *

 **TBC...**

* * *

 **.**


	31. Hidden in the Stones

**Disclaimer** : I do not own Fairy Tail.

 **Pairing(s)** : Natsu Dragneal x Zeref

 **WARNINGS: violence, alternative history,** **shounan ai (boy/boy pairing); you have been warned so don't like, don't read**

* * *

 **The Will to Live**

 **By V. Shalyr**

* * *

 **31\. Hidden in the Stones**

"I want to go out. Come with me?"

Zeref didn't open his eyes.

"Okay," he said, but he rested a hand on the arm Natsu had around his waist to stop the dragon wizard from moving away. "Wait."

He felt Natsu pause then settle back, pulling Zeref closer to him once more.

"What?"

"After we go flying, will you please tell me what's bothering you?"

Natsu tensed, and for a moment, the grip he had on the dark-haired wizard became almost painful. Then he sighed.

"I'll think about it."

Zeref just nodded and quietly got ready to leave. So whatever the problem was, it _did_ have something to do with him.

.

There was something calming about flying. It was only Zeref's second time in the air, and he was already completely in love with the feeling. The world and all its troubles seemed so far away, and for as long as it lasted, it was like he could forget about everything that had ever burdened him. For just a few moments, nothing that had happened in the past or might happen in the future had to matter. Of course, it wouldn't be nearly so nice if he was up here by himself, but that was okay. It was impossible for him to be up here at all without Natsu, so that really wasn't something he had to think about.

Zeref flattened himself along the dragon's neck, careful to avoid the spikes, and closed his eyes. If he wasn't so worried about Natsu, he would enjoy this a lot more. As it were, he could sense the dragon's restlessness even without the assistance of their link, and it was making him restless and uneasy as well.

Zeref wasn't sure how long they flew. When he peered down past the dragon's wings, he could see miles of mountain range blanketed with forests and traced through with ribbons of silver water. The sight made Zeref wish that he was a painter, the kind of painter who could reproduce the emotions of a moment instead of only its appearance. Sometimes, he wondered what his life would have been like had he chosen any other occupation other than magic. Then again, magic was what he was really good at. His becoming a wizard had been no accident, even if it had brought him almost nothing but grief and a deep understanding of how powerless people really were in the face of nature.

When Natsu finally landed, it was not in the valley. Instead, he glided down to one of the series of rocky ledges scattered in the vicinity of the waterfall. The ledge had only just enough space for the dragon to lie down, and a part of his tail draped over the edge. Zeref slid from his back and resettled himself in the crook of the beast's foreleg.

They were quiet for a long time, listening to the rushing water. Natsu was in no hurry to talk, and Zeref was nothing if not patient. Besides, it was important to treasure these moments of relative peace. Natsu was the one who had taught him that.

So they watched the river flow past far below them and the sun move slowly across the sky over their heads. When its rays became too intense, the dragon unfolded one wing to shade his companion from the glare.

"Hey," Natsu said finally, "am I... important to you?"

Zeref opened eyes that he hadn't noticed closing and looked towards the dragon's head—a dark, angular silhouette against the heavens. "Of course you are. Why would you even ask me that?"

The dragon shifted restlessly. "The healer... She said she's not a hundred percent sure it would work, but she thinks I might be able to break your curse with my magic—you know, like how I eroded mine."

Zeref went very still.

Natsu still wouldn't look at him, and his next words were reluctant and halting.

"I know... that it would mean a lot to you. I know that... living this way is painful for you sometimes, and it's really selfish of me, but... I don't want to try. I can't. Not now. Not if it means you'll die in just a hundred years or so. Human lives are just so—so _short_. I don't want to lose you."

For a long moment, Zeref couldn't speak, stunned both by the healer's ideas and by Natsu's confession. A confusing mixture of emotions swept through him, but he was startled to find that the strongest of these was a sudden, overwhelming sense of relief. So that was why Natsu had been so preoccupied. Zeref could understand why he hadn't wanted to talk to him about it. He could still remember the angry incredulity on Natsu's face when they'd first met and Zeref had explained that he'd been waiting to see if the knights would be able to kill him that time. His curse still pained him, but... a lot of other things had changed since then—not just in regards to his circumstances. A lot had changed within Zeref himself.

What could he say though?

The dragon finally turned to look at him, perhaps just as bewildered by his partner's emotions as Zeref himself had been.

"You're not upset?" Natsu asked, searching his face.

Zeref could have said a lot of things. He could have tried to explain all the thoughts whirling through his head, tried to explain just _how_ important Natsu was to him. Maybe he would someday, but right a this moment, all of that seemed far too complicated. And really, there was only one thing that Natsu really needed to hear right now.

Zeref rested a hand on the dragon's warm scales and offered him a smile.

"Natsu... I want to live."

Because for the first time in what felt like forever, he had something to live for. Because for the first time, he could imagine a future that wasn't full of darkness and pain—a future that he was willing to fight for.

They could figure out everything else as they went.

.

Edrik remembered clearly his first days in the Rune Knights, although it had been several years ago. He'd been so young, so full of the enthusiasm and idealism of youth. His own hometown had given birth to quite a number of new recruits, due in no small part to the damage it had suffered at the hands of a small but powerful Dark Guild. With his negative encounters with magic as a child, Edrik had been hesitant to learn the magic taught to all knight recruits. Yes, magic was a tool, and like a sword, it did good or evil depending on the uses to which it was put. But swords did not make men feel like gods, and the reach of a sword was limited.

Time and experience had eroded many of his early reservations, because sometimes, you had to do things you disliked in order to uphold the law and protect the public's safety. However, working with Dierce Senza was bringing quite a lot of his old doubts back to the surface. Why, Edrik wondered, had the Council sent this man here? Or had he come here on his own with the Council's orders as an excuse?

Around him, the docks of Sage Town were a hubbub of activity, although the sailors and dockhands scurrying about gave the knight captain a wide berth. The man's almost perpetually grim visage tended to have that affect on people.

"Sir, the ships are ready to set sail as soon as we're ready."

Edrik nodded to the younger knight and put the helmet he'd briefly taken off back on his head. "Start boarding. Where is Dierce?"

The man coughed. "Talking with the sailors, sir. Ah, may I speak my mind about something?"

The captain raised one eyebrow. "Of course. You should know by now that I appreciate candor."

The younger man sketched a salute and said, "Well then, sir, some of us don't like him very much."

Edrik snorted, but didn't interrupt.

"Some of the things he says... We're afraid that he's not here for the reasons that we are, sir. That he might have other goals that he hasn't shared with us."

Edrik's second eyebrow rose to join the first. "Explain."

The man shifted his weight from foot to foot and cleared his throat. "The way he speaks of the Black Wizard, sir. It's... almost like he admires him. He came with us when we brought the Dragon Slayers to the dark wizard's last known location, and he was—very fascinated."

Fascinated, huh? Edrik could understand that, albeit grudgingly. Anyone with any interest in powerful magic would probably find it difficult not to feel some degree of intrigue.

"Also, sir, he's been asking a lot of questions of the locals about some ancient civilization—"

Edrik did cut him off here. His brain was going to go numb if he had to hear one more speech about ancient _anything_. "Yes, he's told me about that too. In great detail."

"Of course, sir, but he's been asking about the location of their ruins. He obviously intends to go there in person."

The captain sighed at that. "I suspected that he would. Still, that doesn't change our plans. We'll be stopping at different points alongthe lake shore anyway, so the Slayers can check for their trail. We'll just have to keep an eye on Dierce."

"They, sir?" The man blinked, confused. "So it's confirmed that Zeref is traveling with a Dragon Slayer?"

"It seems so."

It really was incredible what the Dragon Slayers could do. With their help, Edrik had been able not only to track down the kidnappers, but also to rescue all the kidnapees.

"That's... going to make our job even harder, isn't it, sir?"

"I think our job was already as difficult as it could possibly be," Edrik said dryly. "One Dragon Slayer won't make that big a difference. Now, where is Captain Lenzo? He's arrived, hasn't he? I need to speak with him."

"I believe he's already on the first ship, sir."

Edrik found the other Rune Knight captain pacing the ship's foredeck, hands clasped behind his back and jaw clenched.

"You're radiating tension," Edrik told him, folding his arms across his chest. "It's not good for the men's morale."

The shorter captain glanced towards him then grudgingly came to a stop by the ship's railing.

"My apologies. I just want this mission to be over."

Edrik nodded. "Understandable."

The corner of Lenzo's lips drew sharply downward. "I lost more than half my team the first time we encountered him. He just— _stood_ there, and they _died_. Something like that should not be allowed to exist."

Some- _thing_ , huh? Edrik had noticed that a number of his colleagues seemed to have stopped thinking of the Black Wizard as a human being.

"That old magic Dierce keeps rambling on about," Lenzo said suddenly, "you don't think Zeref came to this region for that, do you?"

Edrik turned his gaze towards the open waters of the lake, feeling a headache starting behind his eyes.

"What makes you say that?"

"The way Dierce speaks of it, it's the kind of magic that lets a wizard build and destroy empires. Can you imagine what havoc a wizard like Zeref could cause with magic like that?"

"But to what purpose?" Edrik couldn't help but ask.

"Purpose?" Lenzo appeared confused. "What kind of purpose would he need?"

"Never mind."

Edrik shook his head. Honestly, to think that a person could spend this much time on the hunt for someone and yet still know nothing of any value about him. No wonder they still had no results to show for their efforts. Just casualties. Far too many casualties.

"Dierce says our jobs would all be a lot easier if the Council had more influence and people respected the knights more. But we're still too young as an organization. We aren't strong enough."

Edrik's mouth thinned. "Yes, well, Dierce is a fool. And you're a fool too if you buy into that."

He turned sharply away from the shorter captain, tossing his last words back over his shoulder. "I only came to tell you that we got our reply from headquarters. Our goal this time is to capture him, not kill him."

After all, it wasn't like they'd had any success with the latter despite a number of attempts over the last few decades. They were running out of things to try. Imprisoning him somewhere would be the next best thing.

.

"Perhaps we should be focusing on a way to control your curse instead of a way to break it," Natsu mused.

"It's called a curse for a reason, Natsu," Zeref replied, clambering carefully back up the dragon's side. "It's not that easy."

Once he was settled, Natsu rose to his feet and unfolded his wings.

"I never said it would be easy. And I guess... in a couple hundred years, if you still really want me to try and break the curse, if we haven't found another way and it still troubles you... I'll do it."

Zeref's eyes widened in surprise at that, but he didn't get the chance to respond because the dragon threw himself skyward and all the wizard's attention turned to not falling off. This became easier once they'd reached a proper altitude for flight, and when Zeref looked down, he noticed something he hadn't noticed before. From this high up, he could see most of Sky Road. The myriad of white stone monuments traced a number of curving paths across the ground far below, and when viewed as a whole, they came together into a coherent pattern of some sort—a pattern that Zeref felt as though he had seen somewhere before.

"Natsu? Natsu!"

He had to shout to be heard.

"What?"

"Can you fly a bit higher? I want to see all of Sky Roat at once."

"Sky Road?" The dragon glanced down at the white pathways. "Oh, you mean those white rocks? Sure. Hold on."

The dragon circled higher. Once Zeref could see the entire set of white pathways, he committed the complex pattern to memory then asked to return to the library.

"What's the rush?" Natsu wanted to know, but Zeref was going hoarse trying to talk to him with the wind stealing most of his voice, so the dragon didn't press the issue. Instead, he waited until they had returned to the ground and were making their way along the library's main spiral staircase to ask again. "So?"

"I've seen the pattern formed by those white stones before," Zeref said, turning into one of the second floor rooms and making a beeline for the shelves near the far wall. "It was in one of Diana Senza's writings."

He riffled through various books then began shaking out scrolls, searching for a sketch that matched what he had seen from the air.

"So anything with her name on it, right?" Natsu joined him and began sorting through the collection of texts as well. "Seriously, she wrote a lot, didn't she?"

They found what they were searching for in a slim, dark green volume, its pages yellow and crackly with age. Natsu peered over Zeref's shoulder at the black ink sketch as his partner traced the spidery lines with his fingertip.

"It's exactly the same," Zeref said.

"What's that star for?" Natsu asked, reaching around him to point out the tiny symbol nestled amidst the web of other lines and angles.

"I think," Zeref said slowly, turning the page to search the notes written on the back, "it's the heart of the pattern, where the entire artifact is meant to be activated."

"Artifact?" Natsu repeated, puzzled. "So it's all part of some magical tool?"

"I believe so." Zeref scanned the neat lines of text. "And not just any magical tool. The same one that we talked about in that locked chamber."

The dark-haired wizard read quickly through a few more pages, his mouth moving silently. "After the disagreement split them up, Diana Senza took the final piece—the key, if you will—away with her and left. It hadn't been put in yet, and she couldn't set it in place because of the barrier. At least she planned to take it with her. I can only assume that she went through with it."

"Hold on a second," Natsu said, frowning. "That star, does that mean that's where that waterfall room is? It kind of looked like the right place."

The question made Zeref pause, and he turned back to examine the diagram once more.

"You know, I think you're right. Natsu, do you realize what this means?"

"Uh, that this library is at the center of Sky Road?"

"Not only that. This library is a _part_ of Sky Road." Zeref lowered the book and reached out to place one hand flat upon the stone wall beside him. "It's not just a hideout. This entire library _is_ the magical artifact, not just that chamber we found. The magic circle in the chamber floor was only a tiny fragment of the spell. We're sitting in the middle of a giant magic circle."

Natsu considered this, glancing around at the library's stone walls and high ceilings. They still looked and felt like plain old stone to him, but then so had the white monuments.

"That's interesting and all," he drawled finally, "but does any of this really matter? To us, I mean."

Zeref opened his mouth, shut it again, then blinked a few times while he reorganized his thoughts. "I... suppose it doesn't. It just surprised me. I don't often encounter such large-scale magic that I have never heard of."

"You're curious then?"

The expression on Zeref's face was almost sheepish. "Maybe a little."

The dragon's eyes gleamed with amusement. "Well, let's get to it then. How do we go about learning more about this artifact? Though I'll tell you now that if we're going to be digging through these old records, I probably won't be much help."

.

Spending the night out on the lake felt almost eerie, or at least Marley thought so. She rubbed at the goose bumps on her arms through the heavy fabric of her uniform, which was just a bit too stiff to give much warmth. It didn't do much to keep the wind at bay either, and she wished she hadn't left her cloak below deck. She'd thought that the night air would refresh her and clear her head—and it did, but it also chilled her to the bone.

Sometimes, Marley wondered if she could resign. When she'd joined the Rune Knights, she'd never thought that she'd actually be asked to face down someone like the Black Wizard. Maybe it was just her bad luck that her squad had run into him on their very first assignment. She still had nightmares about that black fog enveloping everything, nightmares where everything before her was dying and that black fog was reaching out towards her.

Marley shivered again, but this time, it had nothing to do with the cold. In that one horrifying morning, she'd seen more death than she'd wanted to see in a lifetime. Captain Lenzo hadn't been the same since.

The young woman shook her head hard, trying to physically discard those awful memories, then looked back out across the water, black in the moonlight. A noise behind her made her jump, and she spun around, drawing her sword in the same motion.

Dierce froze, staring at the point of the blade quivering mere inches from his chestnut beard just before his throat.

"My apologies," he said, taking a careful step back. "I didn't mean to startle you. I was only passing by."

Marley relaxed and sheathed her sword. "I'm sorry, it's my fault. The night can put me a bit on edge."

"Of course." Dierce inclined his head. "My mother wasn't a fan of the dark either. I find, however, that I quite like nightfall. The stars always seem so full of possibilities."

"Is that why you came out here?" Marley asked. "To look at the stars."

Dierce shrugged. "It's as good a reason as any to be out here, isn't it?"

That wasn't really an answer. Still, Marley saw no reason to question him further. It wasn't like she had shared her own reasons for being here on deck despite the cold.

Out of the corner of her eye, Marley thought she saw Dierce slip something flat and white into the pocket of his robes, something that almost seemed to glow in the faint moonlight, but... it could have just been her imagination.

* * *

 **TBC...**

* * *

 **.**


	32. A Dragon's Treasure

**Disclaimer** : I do not own Fairy Tail.

 **Pairing(s)** : Natsu Dragneal x Zeref

 **WARNINGS: violence, alternative history,** **shounan ai (boy/boy pairing); you have been warned so don't like, don't read**

* * *

 **The Will to Live**

 **By V. Shalyr**

* * *

 **32\. A Dragon's Treasure**

"We've decided that we'll be leaving soon."

Porlyusica paused and glanced up. She'd been measuring out powdered herbs into various paper packets. More than a dozen already completed packets lay piled in a basket at her elbow.

"When?" she asked.

"Next few days. It's nice here and there's still a lot of information Era hasn't gone over, but I want to get out of here before the winter snow," the dragon explained. "I should let Dad know what's been happening, and then there's a couple places I want Era to see. We'll probably come by again once the snow melts though, so you can expect to see us around if you're still here."

Slowly, the healer began her work again.

"Have a safe journey."

"Thanks." Natsu started to turn away then paused. "Do you need anything before we go? I can stock up on food if you plan on getting snowed in here, and Era thinks he can get the preservation spells on the pantry working again. He said they should be able to keep even fresh meat in good condition for months without smoking or salting."

"I would appreciate that, thank you."

"No problem. It's the least we could do."

Natsu yawned and waved a distracted goodbye as he disappeared back towards the library's living quarters.

Porlyusica listened to his departing footsteps, almost inaudible even against the silence, and let out a long, slow sigh. It would be nice to have this place to herself again, but she had to admit that she was going to miss having them around. She wasn't really the kind of person who got lonely though, and anyway, if she really wanted company, several of the families that lived up here in the mountains had invited her to spend the winter with them. The peace of these mountains, the people who called these mountains their home... Sometimes, the healer found herself thinking that maybe she didn't want to go back to her own world after all. She could have asked these two wizards to help her find a way back, but she hadn't. Bit by bit, without her really noticing, this world had become home.

.

Zeref woke to the feel of fingers running through his hair. He and Natsu had spent a good portion of the morning talking over plans for the next few days, then after Natsu had gone to inform Porlyusica of their decisions, Zeref had fallen asleep again.

"You know," he said without opening his eyes. "I'm really growing quite fond of this link we have. It's incredibly helpful."

He felt far more steady in his own mind than he had in a long time, and he hadn't had a single un-peaceful morning since. No nightmares either, which he didn't quite understand, but he certainly wasn't going to complain.

Natsu chuckled and leaned down to kiss him, murmuring against his lips, "That was the idea."

When the dragon wizard pulled away, Zeref finally opened his eyes to look at him. "So what did she say?"

"She okayed the idea of fixing up the pantry."

"I should get to work on that then. I assume that means you will be going out to hunt?"

"Yeah. I don't suppose you want to come with me?"

A hint of amusement stole into the wizard's still sleep-hazed gaze. "As much as I'd like to, repairing those preservation spells will probably take a few days. If I don't start soon, it'll be even longer before we can go. Anyway, I'd only get in the way."

"Well, okay." Natsu sighed. "Hopefully, I won't be gone long."

"We should learn to use telepathy," Zeref said, sitting up and stifling a yawn. "Then we could talk even when you're out hunting."

It was Natsu's turn to look amused. "You're the only magic wielder I've ever met who just— _decides_ to learn these things. Most people specialize a little more."

"Most people have a lot less time," Zeref pointed out. "Besides, we already have an empathic connection, so it shouldn't be too difficult. We don't have to be able to talk with anyone else, just each other."

"It would be nice," Natsu conceded. "I'm up for learning, if you figure out how we might make it work. For now, though, we'll just have to make do. The sooner I leave, the sooner I'll be back."

Zeref went out to the valley to watch the dragon depart, only returning indoors when the winged shape had disappeared from view. The pantry was located in the living quarters next to what they assumed had been another exit from which people could enter and leave the library. Unfortunately, that doorway was now completely blocked off by a landslide that had likely occurred sometime within the last decade. That same landslide had sent several thin cracks running across the pantry's right wall, damaging the carvings that served as the foundations of the room's food preservation enchantments. Fortunately, the damage wasn't that extensive.

Zeref walked around the perimeter of the pantry, going over the carvings one more time to make sure he understood how the magical energy was meant to be channeled. Then he set about redrawing the damaged sections to work around and through the cracks, first marking the patterns with chalk before starting to etch them with magic.

He was so engrossed in his task that he almost didn't notice when Natsu returned several hours later. However, when the dragon didn't come looking for him, Zeref left off what he was doing and went out to the valley to see what was keeping him.

Zeref arrived to find half a deer carcass and blood still dripping from the dragon's jaws.

"I thought you were helping her stock the pantry," Zeref said. "It doesn't do her a lot of good if you eat it all."

"I'll get more," Natsu said, wolfing down the raw meat with gusto. "I found a section of river further up that's got some quite large fish in it."

He paused, gaze growing thoughtful. "I haven't had fish in awhile. Fish sounds good."

Zeref shook his head, although he was smiling. "Are you sure you'll be able to get anything for her?"

"Hey! It's just that I'd forgotten how much more I have to eat when I'm a dragon. She'll get her supplies after I've eaten my fill." Natsu tore off another strip of meat from the dead deer, swallowed it, then asked, "Do you want some?"

Zeref looked at the carcass, his gaze lingering on the broken bones jutting through torn flesh and the ragged hide matted with blood. The sight made him a little queasy.

"Thank you, but I don't really feel like eating deer. I think ... I'll go back to work. It's moving more quickly than I predicted. I might even be able to finish it by tomorrow evening."

"What about fish? Later, I mean."

The wizard considered, pausing with his hand on the frame of the doorway, then nodded. "I suppose some fish might be nice. It has been some time since we had fish."

.

The intermittent rains that plagued the region around Eden Lake during the autumn months had proved problematic for their mission. While the Dragon Slayers had found traces of their target in both Sage Town and Reed, the rain had washed away all other trails. So even though they knew that the Black Wizard was in the area, it was almost winter and they still hadn't found him yet.

It was pure chance that they were able to pick up the dark wizard's trail again, and ironically, it only happened because Dierce absolutely insisted on visiting the mountains.

Of course, they hadn't known this when they left Reed and started up the sloping road that snaked towards the mountain range's rocky, white-flecked peaks.

The entire way up from the lake, the man had made himself a nuisance, demanding constantly that they spend less time resting and more time on the move. It had gotten to the point where even in his sleep, Edrik sometimes heard Dierce yammering on about having to get searching and how privileged they should all feel to have this opportunity. Hell, he was only going along with this search to shut the man up.

The worst part was that some of the group were starting to listen to him. As annoying as Dierce could be, his ideas were not without their logic, and they were worming their way into people's heads

Of course it would be good if the Council and the knights had more say in the way things were happening in this kingdom. They were only trying to maintain the law and keep the peace after all, so that both wizards and non-wizards alike had a chance to live peaceful lives.

It wasn't like Edrik couldn't understand their thought processes. Still, Edrik had always believed that power and influence had to be built up over time, and that they had to be supported with credibility. He wasn't about to change his beliefs just because Dierce thought he'd found a shortcut.

"I found one, sir!"

Edrik heard the shout before his footsteps had taken him clear of the woods, and this time, the "sir" wasn't for him.

"Excellent," he heard Dierce reply.

In his mind, Edrik pictured the man rubbing his hands together in anticipation. Ugh, when had he allowed himself to think so childishly? The sooner they got this search over with, the sooner they could get back to their real mission.

The captain picked up his pace. The green grass was dotted with clusters of soft, brown mushrooms due to all the recent rainfall, and Edrik tried not to step on them as he crossed the field towards the commotion.

Dierce and several knights stood gathered amidst a stand of round, white stones like giant marbles. Edrik counted five of them, and he could spot more white rocks in the distance—some tall and narrow, others shorter and shaped like miniature pyramids.

"What is all this?" Edrik asked as soon as he was within earshot.

"The locals call it Sky Road," one of his subordinates replied, acknowledging his approach with a salute.

"Locals?"

"Yes, captain. Apparently, there are several families living scattered throughout these mountains."

"I see. And what is this Sky Road?"

"What it _is_ ," Dierce cut in before the knight could answer, "is evidence that I'm not crazy. Please gather everyone. We need to conduct an organized sweep of this area. There should be several entryways around here that lead underground."

Edrik folded his arms across his chest, watching as a man he recognized from Lenzo's squad ran off to inform the other captain. One by one, the knights that had been scattered across the mountainside made their way—some jogging, others dragging their feet—to Dierce and the white spheres. The man began distributing orders even before everyone had arrived, sending teams of two and three out to follow the pathways of snowy rock.

"Don't just search around the stones," he instructed them. "Examine the area carefully. The doors should be made of stone, but they will most likely not be visible at a glance."

"Captain Edrik sir."

Edrik turned to find Marley hurrying towards him with, he was surprised to see, the two Dragon Slayers who'd been assisting them on her heels. One glance at their faces made the hairs prickle on the back of Edrik's neck. It couldn't be, could it?

The fierceness of Jigaro's fanged grin combined with the spiky mess of his vivid green hair made him look a little insane. "We found him."

Edrik didn't really need to ask, but he did anyway—just to be sure he wasn't jumping to conclusions, "By him, you mean...?"

"The dark wizard you've been looking for," the other Slayer said, confirming the captain's suspicions. "Well, not the actual person yet, but he is very close."

"What about his companion?"

"That's a little trickier," Jigaro replied, dragging out the words. "His scent is all over this place, and it's strange."

"So you don't know where he is."

"No, afraid we don't."

Edrik nodded. It just figured that they would find their target when they _weren't_ looking.

"Should I inform everyone?" Marley asked.

Edrik frowned, glancing back towards the many small search parties. He could only imagine how Dierce would react if he was interrupted right now, and the captain just really didn't want to deal with him at the moment. He didn't particularly want Dierce to meet the Black Wizard either.

"How many wizards does it take to use that seal headquarters sent us?"

"Five, sir."

"Then round up three others from our squad. I doubt Dierce or Lenzo will notice us go, and anyway, stealth will be easier with fewer people."

Marley bit her lip. "Are you sure?"

"Yes," Edrik said firmly. "As for you two, we'll need one of you to help us track him, but the other should probably stay here in case the Fire Dragon Slayer shows up here. In fact, if you see him, try to stop him from following us. We don't need more complications."

.

When Natsu first caught the scent of unfamiliar humans on the breeze, he thought nothing of it. Humans were, for the most part, not actually as uncommon in these mountains as he had thought at first, and he'd spotted more than a dozen human residences on his flights—most of them farmsteads complete with a handful of cows, goats, and chickens. He'd even seen a flock of sheep once, and it had required a lot of self restraint not to appropriate a few as a snack. He didn't get the chance to eat sheep very often. They always seemed to belong to somebody.

The sense of wrongness started when Natsu realized just how _many_ humans there were nearby. There had to be dozens of them, possibly almost a hundred, and at least one of those scents nagged at his memories, like he had encountered it somewhere before.

Natsu dropped the fish he'd just plucked from the river back into the water. It was its lucky day, because the dragon had more important things to attend to right now than gutting it. Instead, Natsu launched himself into the sky and surveyed the ground as it raced past below him, wondering why that scent seemed familiar.

When the answer finally clicked, the dragon growled low in his throat. It was that Rune Knight captain from before, back in the clearing where he had first met Zeref. That same captain was here now, somewhere close to the library. Flying high above Sky Road, Natsu could spot several men and women dressed in white and silver armor combing the mountainside as though searching for something or someone.

The Black Wizard himself was not currently in the library. He'd told Natsu that he and Porlyusica would be dropping by her cottage where she had a few books she thought he might want to take with him when they left.

Strange though. Upon closer inspection, these knights didn't appear to be searching for a person. Or if they were, they had a peculiar way of going about it, brushing creepers from cliff faces and levering up large boulders to root around in the earth underneath.

Wait, they couldn't possibly know about the underground library, could they? Was there an entrance around here? Natsu wasn't sure. They had found other doors while exploring the library, but several of them—like the one by the pantry—no longer functioned. Besides, it was a big library. They could have missed one.

Even as the dragon watched, a female knight poking through the tall grass around a pile blue-gray stones gave a shout. Several of her colleagues hastened over, and together, they heaved the many stones aside then brushed away a thin layer of dirt to reveal a round, stone slab like the lid of a well. From what Natsu could tell, the symbols engraved upon it looked very similar to those engraved upon the door behind the waterfall.

At that moment, one of the men glanced up, perhaps sensing the suspicious scrutiny of inhuman eyes, and screamed.

Well, it looked like he'd been spotted. What to do about it though? He could just leave, but there was a high possibility that they would follow him. In that case, he might as well go down there and say hello—and find out just what they were doing here.

Even if Zeref was okay with it, Natsu had no intentions of running from the Rune Knights forever.

.

"What do you think? Will they be of use to you?"

Zeref closed the book. He was seated at the small, square table in the kitchen half of the healer's living room. The cottage was too small to have a separate room for the kitchen.

"I believe so, yes. Are you sure you want to give these to me? They are quite valuable."

There were three books in total, comprising a set of detailed investigations into magical seals and anti-magic sorcery.

"You'll be able to make better use of them than I," Porlyusica said, setting a kettle of water on the stove to boil. She had a list of potions that she had to brew for various patients by tomorrow morning. "Someone I treated a while back gave them to me because I was a wizard. His grandmother had left them to him when she passed away, but he had no interest in magic."

Zeref stowed the books in his travel bag and stood.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome. Will you be going back to the library?"

"I was thinking about taking a walk," Zeref started then stopped, a frown clouding his features.

When he didn't continue speaking or start for the door, the healer turned her head to look at him. "Something wrong?"

"I..." He paused, trying to sort through the emotions he felt from his partner. The calm, focused intensity that Zeref had come to associate with Natsu hunting had shifted to something else, something wary and restless that made Zeref a little uneasy in turn.

This was why he'd wanted to look into telepathic magic.

"Excuse me," he said, securing the clasp of his cloak and starting for the door. "Something's... happening. I'm going to see what's going on."

He eased the cottage door shut behind him and stood for awhile in the front garden, listening. The woods were too quiet. No birds chirped amidst the nearby trees, and it seemed like even the insects had decided to lay low.

There were other people somewhere close by.

Porlyusica hadn't been entirely right about the sensory side effects of the connection he and Natsu now shared. True, he did not have the senses of a Dragon Slayer, but there was more to his enhanced perceptions than simply an echo of the dragon's awareness of the world.

Alert and cautious, Zeref walked away from the cottage in the direction of the library. If these people were here for him, he didn't want to get the healer involved. Sure enough, only a few paces beyond the garden gate and he felt eyes on him, although no one emerged from amidst the trees to confront him. Zeref tucked his hands into the sleeves of his robes so as not to fidget. He disliked the feeling of being watched, but he couldn't let them know he had noticed them until he was a safe distance from the healer's home.

Hmmm, it seemed like they were trying to surround him. He couldn't let them try whatever they wanted to try this time. The emotions he was sensing from Natsu were becoming tinged with irritation and anger, and somehow, the wizard just knew that that was a bad thing. The edge of the woods was still some distance away, but at least the cottage had long disappeared from view. This would have to do.

"I know you're there," Zeref said, halting in his tracks and raising his voice.

He knew they had heard him by the responding spike in tension and fear. Zeref hated that feeling, for all that he'd grown accustomed to it. All that fear directed towards him always made the very air feel so heavy and cold, but he didn't have time right now to dwell on that.

"I'm sorry, but I'm in a hurry today. So if you attack me, I must warn you that I _will_ retaliate. I do not wish to do so, however, because I have no desire to kill you. And if we fight, you will almost certainly die."

There was a long pause broken by a snigger and then a rough, male voice exclaiming, "Ouch! What did you step on my foot for, woman?"

"We're supposed to be quiet!"

"Why? He already knows we're here. I want to ask him why he's got that other Dragon Slayer's scent all over him. Hey, you don't think they're—hey! Cut that out! Sheesh, if all you're going to do is sneak around, I'm going back. I've found him for you, so there's no point in me staying. You lot are no fun at all."

That had to be one of the Dragon Slayers Xander had mentioned in his letter, Zeref thought. He glanced towards the voices then back at the trees in front of him where a man wearing a white cloak had stepped out onto the narrow, forest path. Zeref didn't think he'd seen this particular knight captain before, although he didn't have an especially good memory for all the people who had tried to kill or capture him over the years. They all blurred together after the first handful of decades.

This man though... He was unusual among all the knights who had ever confronted him in that there was neither fear nor hate in the gaze he fixed upon the dark wizard.

"You're not what I expected," the man said, never taking his eyes from the Black Wizard's face. "You said you're in a hurry. Why?"

"There is somewhere that I need to be."

"Does this have anything to do with the Mieye Library?"

Zeref hesitated, startled both by the fact that the library had a name and that this knight knew it. Considering what the library actually was, that could be very bad.

Zeref met the captain's gaze steadily. "I am headed that way, yes, but it has nothing to do with the library. Although if you don't mind my asking, how and what exactly do you know about that library?"

The knight's brows drew together. "Why do you want to know?"

"Because if you plan on doing something foolish, I may feel compelled to stop you."

.

The dark crimson dragon stood by the entrance to the library, inspecting the bristling sea of spears and swords with disdain. Seriously, why did humans always have to react this way? It was really getting old. At least nobody was screaming anymore. He supposed that was the difference between trained soldiers and civilians.

"I thought something was unusual about your scent," the only human in the bunch that carried no physical weapons said, dark magenta energy crackling about his hands. "You're not a Dragon Slayer. You're a dragon."

Natsu snorted. When he spoke, his voice dripped with sarcasm. "What gave it away?"

The Dragon Slayer laughed, although his eyes were grim. The man knew perfectly well what a dangerous opponent he was up against. "The giant claws and scales tend to be a major clue."

"You, dragon," one of the knights shouted, glaring up at him for all that his white-knuckled hands were shaking. The tension in the air was almost palpable. "Why are you traveling with the Black Wizard?"

Natsu's eyes narrowed. "So you _are_ here looking for Zeref."

He should have known.

"Answer our question, dragon! Why have you sided with him?"

"It's pointless to ask him." The captain that Natsu recognized from before spat the words out with venom. "Zeref is here because he wants to use the artifact to destroy us all, isn't he? And you're helping him because human lives mean nothing to dragons. Your kind have always seen us only as your next meal."

Natsu bared his teeth. "You're insane. For your information, I've never eaten a human in my life. We're only passing through here, nothing more."

"You're lying!"

The dragon growled, the sound rumbling menacingly in his chest. How dare this measly human accuse him of lying? Everything about the knight captain's attitude just pissed him off. He'd never met anyone so incredibly unreasonable.

"I don't care if you believe me or not. At the moment, I have no reason to fight you. But if you insist on continuing to pursue him, I will have plenty of reasons. And I'm nowhere near as merciful as he is. He's mine, and if you attack him again, I— _will_ —kill you."

Because this was no longer about humans and dragons. It was about an enemy trying to take something precious from him, and he would not allow that to happen.

Nervous mutters rippled through the assembly.

"Don't be ridiculous," the captain snapped, his sword blazing with white light. "We will defeat you and kill that monster. You can't stop us, because even if you slay us all here, others will come to replace us. Eventually, one way or another, we will destroy him!"

The dragon snarled, flames flaring about his long, angular jaws. The air around him began to shimmer and distort from the heat of his anger. "You'll regret saying such words to me."

With a loud cry, the captain charged, followed by more than half of his knights. Years of facing the Black Wizard had worn away their fear for almost everything other than Zeref's Death Magic. Even a dragon, as powerful as he was, could be fought against—unlike that deadly, black fog.

Natsu sent several of his attackers flying with a flick of his tail and lunged for the knight captain—only to be intercepted by a blast of sizzling magenta energy that blackened the earth where it struck. Several knights seized the opportunity to launch magical attacks of their own, filling the air with a chaotic hum of energy. The dragon pulled back with a roar, and golden white flames blazed, carving a swath through the spells and devouring all traces of magic. A second blast of fire forced the Dragon Slayer to leap back, filling the air with the stench of burning grass and scorched dirt.

"Don't think that you'll be able to win just because you have a Dragon Slayer with you," Natsu hissed. A flap of his wings sent several thrown spears tumbling away from him. "I have far too much experience for that, and I know a thing or two about Dragon Slayers."

"That may be so," the Slayer replied, charging forward once more. "You do appear to be very strong, and your element is tricky. But there are almost a hundred knights here, all of them decently powerful wizards selected to deal with the Black Wizard Zeref, and I'm not here alone."

Which was when the second Dragon Slayer joined the fight with a battle cry and a blast of wind. Natsu evaded the spell, and it carved a razor-edge path through a nearby cliff face.

Round about a hundred well trained Rune Knights, two Dragon Slayers, and a full-grown Fire Dragon.

The mountainside was about to become far, far less peaceful.

* * *

 **TBC...**

* * *

 **.**


	33. The Follies of Power

**Disclaimer** : I do not own Fairy Tail.

 **Pairing(s)** : Natsu Dragneal x Zeref

 **WARNINGS: violence, alternative history,** **shounan ai (boy/boy pairing); you have been warned so don't like, don't read**

* * *

 **The Will to Live**

 **By V. Shalyr**

* * *

 **33\. The Follies of Power**

 _Dierce Senza_.

The man's family name rang a bell, and Zeref's mind flicked back to the many journals and other documents he'd spent the last several weeks deciphering.

"You say this man came here looking for the library?"

"Yes," the captain said. "Now I've answered some of your questions. I'd like you to answer some of mine."

That did seem only fair.

"Please be quick about it. As I said before, there's somewhere I have to be."

The knight didn't remark on the fact that that would mean letting him go. Instead, he asked, "What exactly does this library do? All Dierce ever talks about is expanding the Council's influence."

"It's the heart of a magical artifact developed to manipulate people's thoughts on a large scale," Zeref said, trying to be as succinct as possible.

Somewhere in the woods, he heard a sharp intake of breath and hushed muttering.

"And you say you have no interest in this artifact?"

"No, I was only here to see someone."

"The healer woman back there," the captain said, although his gaze never left Zeref's face. "I see."

A frown darkened the man's face as something occured to him, and he asked, "Can just anyone use this artifact?"

"He or she would probably have to be a wizard," Zeref said. "But you would need a key. In any case, I would advise not trying to do so. Nothing good could come of such a spell."

There was a rustle, and then a female knight emerged from the trees onto the path behind the dark wizard. She eyed him anxiously, but licked her lips and addressed him despite her fear, "By key, do you think—maybe something flat and white?"

Zeref glanced at her. Flat and white? He thought back to the sealed chamber with water flowing down its walls and the missing piece from the faintly glowing, white floor with its intricate pattern of circles and lines.

"I suppose it could be flat and is very likely white," Zeref said cautiously. "It probably also glows."

The woman's face drained of what color had been left in it. Her eyes darted to her captain.

"I—I think I might have seen it, sir."

The man studied Zeref for a moment longer then, somewhat to the dark wizard's surprise, stepped aside.

"Go on," the captain said when Zeref hesitated. "I can't say how things will go if we should meet again in the future, but right now, I have more important concerns than capturing you."

Zeref would have time to wonder about the man's decision later. Right now, he thanked the knight with all sincerity and hurried past him, careful to keep some distance between them. If this stern captain with his hard features and cold eyes was going to be the most reasonable Rune Knight he had ever met, Zeref definitely didn't want to accidentally kill him.

.

Marley watched the Black Wizard disappear along the forest path with mixed feelings. On the one hand, she was relieved that they wouldn't have to fight him. On the other, they had come all this way to capture him, and now there he was, walking away.

"Captain?"

Edrik had already pocketed the amulet meant for use in the sealing spell and started in the direction of the healer's cottage. "Leave him. We need to get into that library before Dierce does, and I believe the healer will be able to help us."

"But, sir," another knight protested, only to be silenced by a withering stare.

"We've been chasing the Black Wizard for almost a century," Edrik said dryly. "He can wait. Now get moving, or do you _want_ to think like Dierce for the rest of your life?"

This got everyone moving in a rush. Whether or not they agreed with Dierce's ideas, none of them wanted to have no choice in the matter.

"Besides," Edrik added, talking more to himself than his subordinates, "he's different from any dark wizard I've ever met. Perhaps we would accomplish more if we tried to negotiate with him."

Marley heard him and couldn't help asking, "Negotiate? With Zeref?"

Edrik glanced at her, though his gaze was not entirely focused on her.

"He could easily have killed us all and been on his way, could he not? He's been the cause of so much death already that I hardly think it would matter to add our lives to that list. So why didn't he?"

Marley started to answer, stopped, then dropped her own gaze to the leafe-strewn ground. "I don't know."

And for some reason, walking next to this particular man, she felt ashamed that she had never thought to wonder.

.

Another storm was coming, possibly the last one this autumn. The patches of sky visible through the canopy had darkened from a washed-out blue to a forbidding, slate gray.

As he finally made it past the thinning trees and left the woods, Zeref's thoughts shifted inexorably from the knights he'd left behind back to Natsu. The anger and irritation radiating down their link was rapidly becoming fury, the emotion so intense that the wizard had to pause a moment to wall it off and prevent it from bleeding into and affecting his own emotions. By the time he caught the first acrid hint of smoke in the air, he was running, the grass and fallen leaves underfoot muffling his footsteps.

He could hear people shouting and a dragon roaring, all punctuated by worrying crashes and rumbles. Now and then, the ground shook beneath his feet, and he almost tripped over a body when the mountain path turned sharply around a protruding ridge of rock and soil. The body was clad in silver armor and appeared to be out cold, so he ignored it and continued on. Zeref had seen plenty of battlefields in his hundred years, but even so, he was unprepared for the scene that greeted his eyes. It had been a long time since he'd borne witness to a battle that involved anyone he personally knew.

His gaze went immediately to the commotion some distance beyond this section of Sky Road upon the open stretch of smoldering grass and dirt before the edge of this ripple of forest. The knights who were not strewn unconscious upon the ground nearby were congregated a little ways back from the actual fighting—which was the smart option considering the current circumstances. Any normal human, even a human wizard, caught in a battle between two full-fledged Dragon Slayers and a dragon would only get killed.

Zeref realized with a shock that Natsu was hurt. Badly. He hadn't felt it before because of the dragon's overwhelming anger, which obscured any traces of pain. He wasn't even sure if Natsu felt it himself. But now that Zeref had the battle in sight, it was like all his senses had been kicked into sharp and terrible focus. He could sense the dull pain in the dragon's right shoulder where a blow had made it past the dragon's thick, armored hide, and he knew instinctively that it would make Natsu less agile than he should have been in the air. That wasn't the problem though. Nor was it the dozen or so wounds on the dragon's sides. Those were but minor scratches to a beast that massive. No, the problem was the cold numbness creeping outward from a cut across his left foreleg. Already, he found the limb clumsy and difficult to move.

Out of the corner of his eye, Zeref saw something move. A man garbed in a fancy, white robe was making his way towards what appeared to be the capped lid of a well, darting from white monument to scraggly bush to white monument. Wait, that was no well. After hours spent studying the library's magical doorways, he could recognize one of these at a glance.

That had to be the man that that Rune Knight captain had mentioned—Dierce Senza, the one with the white chamber's missing piece. The one who had brought all the knights here searching for the artifact.

Help Natsu or go after Dierce before he could get to the white chamber in the library?

That wasn't even a choice.

Zeref ran to Natsu, heedless of the violence and clashing spells. He was not, after all, a normal, human wizard.

.

Okay, so maybe he'd been a bit rash. His father often said it was something he had to work on, but then Igneal could be just as reckless, so he didn't exactly set a great example.

He'd driven back the knights easily, although he hadn't managed to kill the annoying captain before his men had forcibly dragged him away so they could staunch the bleeding from where the dragon had tried to rip his sword arm off—would have if the captain's armor-maker hadn't been such a skilled smith and wizard. The problem was the two Dragon Slayers.

Natsu didn't actually want to kill these Dragon Slayers, but that was working against him. It chagrinned him to admit it, but he may have underestimated them. How ironic, seeing as he had accused that other dragon of doing the same when Natsu had fought him in the guise of a human being. If there had only been one Dragon Slayer, there would have been no problems. But there were two of them, and they were obviously experienced in fighting—not only against dragons, but also as a team.

A long, deep cut across his shoulder was bleeding profusely, but the real problem was the poison. He hadn't realized as soon as he should have that the magenta-haired man's magic was poisonous and powerfully so. Sure, Fire Dragons could neutralize poison over time, but he didn't— _have_ —time. This was the middle of a battle and this poison was going to cost him dearly—not that he was ready to admit it. Besides, he wasn't the only one sporting injuries. One of the magenta-haired Slayer's arms hung uselessly at his side while his green-haired companion kept having to retreat to wipe blood out of his eyes with shaking hands.

This battle hadn't been personal before, but now, it was a matter of pride. Natsu had never retreated from a battle in his life, and he was not going to start now. Especially not when he knew that retreat wouldn't solve anything. He would not leave without Zeref, and he would not lead the knights to him by seeking the wizard out.

"What the—what are _you_ doing here?"

Natsu started at the Dragon Slayer's exclamation, and he knew at once what—or rather _who_ —he was talking to.

So few things in life ever went as planned.

Zeref came running out onto the battlefield, ignoring the commotion among the knights who recognized him. He got a lungfull of the pink-violet fumes still drifting in dank clouds just above the ground and coughed, throat and lungs burning. The stuff made him feel quite ill, but he ignored it, knowing that the nausea and overall discomfort would pass. It was not the first time he'd ever been poisoned, and it probably wouldn't be the last. Black fog leaked from his person in misty ribbons, giving him a disturbingly ghostlike appearance, and the few plants along his path that had survived the fighting thus far immediately died. The Dragon Slayers swore and backed off, hastily putting more distance between themselves and this deadly aura.

Zeref was still coughing when he reached the crimson dragon, and he leaned against his partner's side while he caught his breath. Even though he wasn't looking at the knights or the Dragon Slayers, the shadowy mist of his magic swept outward away from him, forming a barrier around both wizard and dragon that looked as insubstantial as smoke but was as impassable as steel.

Natsu would not admit to being glad for the respite. He folded one wing forward to block Zeref from the view of the knights. The way they were looking at the wizard made the dragon bare his teeth and hiss.

"You're hurt," were the first words out of the wizard's mouth when his coughing fit at last eased up.

"I'll be fine," Natsu said, bothered by his partner's distress.

Zeref frowned, finally turning to examine the furious, nervous knights and suspicious Slayers. They had to hurry. Their opponents were wary to approach, but that probably wouldn't last. They would soon realize that they could attempt to continue their attacks from a distance.

Zeref didn't know what to do. The knight captain back in the woods had let him go when he asked. He couldn't repay the man's gesture by massacring his colleagues. Most of them were probably only here because they had been ordered to be here. They didn't deserve to die.

"Natsu," he said, keeping his voice quiet. Dragon Slayers had sharp ears. "Can you fly?"

"Of course I can," the dragon snapped, fierce eyes still fixed upon the Dragon Slayers lingering warily just beyond the reach of the black mist.

Zeref had no idea if the shadowy magic of his curse would kill them or not if they touched it. Meeting Natsu had overturned some of his assumptions about the curse. Still, it was not something that any sane person would test.

"Could you carry me and get away?" Zeref elaborated. There was no way Natsu would agree to leave without him. Most of their belongings were still in the library, but things were just things. They could always come back for them if they really wanted to.

The dragon started to reply then hesitated, possibly realizing that this was not the time for posturing.

"I'm not sure," he admitted grudgingly, the words thick with annoyance. "I'm not moving as well as I should. I think the poison's making me slow. I can't feel my left foreleg."

It wasn't just the foreleg, Zeref knew, worrying at his lower lip. Natsu was expending a lot of energy on not allowing the strain on his movements to show.

"If I can help you clear up the effects of the poison, would that be enough for you to help us get away?"

The dragon started to object to the idea of running, but one glance at his partner's troubled face changed his mind. He would content himself with retreating as long as they were together.

So he took a moment to consider Zeref's question with the care it required before replying, "Yes, I'm sure I could. These cuts are superficial. It's really just the poison."

Right then. Zeref's mind raced. He hoped this worked.

.

At another time, Edrik might have taken some time to browse the contents of the library. The place was an impressive spectacle, that was for sure, and he appreciated the value of all the knowledge that must be stored here. Right now though, he couldn't afford any delays.

He strode along the spiral staircase towards the second floor chamber that the healer woman had described to them. Her directions were clear and detailed, and in no time at all, he and his team found themselves approaching an intricate archway. The door had already been opened, and through it, they could see a faint glow like moonlight emanating from what turned out to be a white stone floor.

Edrik stepped across the threshold into the chamber with water flowing down its walls just as Dierce placed both his palms flat against the wall of glowing runes and they vanished in a ripple of blue-white iridescence. Even before the last sparkle had dissipated, Dierce was moving forward and pulling something made of the same, glowing white stone from his pocket.

"Halt!" Edrik drew his sword and took several steps forward. "How can you even consider going through with this?"

The man's head shot around, and he stared at the knight captain. "Edrik! How did you—why are you here?"

"That depends." Edrik took another step forward, although the blade of his sword remained lowered. "If you desist and leave with us now, then nothing. But if you intend to activate this artifact, then I'll have to stop you before that can happen."

"Stop me?" Dierce repeated, and that sounded amazingly like honest incredulity in his voice. "I'm doing this for all of us! We'll finally have real order in this kingdom. Real peace."

"You can't call it real peace if you have to use magic to sustain it," Edrik snapped, narrowing his eyes. "Just because you aren't using physical force or outright violence doesn't mean it's not tyranny."

It was Dierce's turn to glare. "You are so shortsighted, Edrik. If we could make this country an easier place for everyone to live in with just a single spell, why shouldn't we do it?"

"If you can't answer that question yourself, then you really are hopeless," Edrik said, lifting his sword. "Step away from the magic circle or face the consequences."

The other man sneered. "Don't make me laugh. If you and your underlings don't leave now, you're the ones who will have to face consequences."

Dierce didn't wait for him to respond, pivoting on one foot and tossing the white fragment that had been in his hand. Edrik charged, his sword inscribing an arc of silver through the air, but the stone shard didn't fall like he had expected it to. Instead, it hovered for a split second then fluttered like a lopsided butterfly with a mind of its own to settle into the triangular indentation in the floor. The moment the elaborate circle upon the floor was complete, the entire diagram began to shimmer as though filling up with the light reflected upon the watery walls.

"You're too late," Dierce said triumphantly, but the taller man wasn't listening.

"Surround him!" Edrik shouted, swinging his sword at Dierce in an attempt to force him out of the circle.

Dierce blocked the blade with his arm, and Edrik was startled by the resultant flurry of sparks and the electric shock that shot all the way up through his shoulder. It seemed Dierce was a more skilled wizard than the captain had given him credit for. Undaunted, Edrik activated the spells in his own weapon and launched into a quick series of strikes, ignoring the pain in his arm. The speed of his attacks forced Dierce to take a step back, and Edrik seized the opportunity to press forward, gritting his teeth against the numbness in his fingers.

The bearded wizard's face twisted into an ugly snarl. He swung one hand out in a throwing motion, and a wave of crackling, white energy slammed into Edrik, almost throwing him off his feet. To his right, he heard one of his subordinates cry out in pain. Someone else swore from his left, and Edrik heard the clatter of metal on stone as something—probably a sword or dagger—dropped to the floor. Damn, he supposed he couldn't blame them—his own grip felt weak—but really, anyone Edrik had trained ought to know better than to ever drop his or her weapon.

Dierce began chanting, his voice echoing through the chamber and blending into the sound of running water. Edrik found himself squinting through the brightness in order not to lose track of the man. Had the light in the chamber grown brighter?

Edrik lunged, slashing at the white-robed wizard once more. When Dierce lifted a hand to divert the blow, however, the captain dropped and swept his feet out from under him with a kick. The chanting cut off in a yelp as Dierce fell, and Edrik was on him a second later, pressing an arm against his throat. Dierce spluttered and struggled, clawing at the captain with hands that burned white with power.

"The amulets!" Edrik ordered, although he didn't dare look away from Dierce to see if the others had understood him.

He was rapidly losing strength in his arm, and it was all he could do to prevent Dierce from fighting free of his hold. Edrik was physically stronger than him, but his magic was sapping the knight's energy.

"Hurry up!"

"Sir, we're ready. But you need to activate them."

That was Marley's voice. Good.

With his free hand, Edrik yanked the sealing amulet from his pocket. Realization flashed through Dierce's eyes, and he let out a scream of anger laced with disbelief. Pain seared through Edrik's arm and chest, and he tasted copper where he'd bitten the inside of his own mouth. The stone floor beneath them blazed so brightly that it blinded them, but that didn't stop the knight captain from spitting out the necessary incantation through gritted teeth. As the last syllable left his lips, energy exploded through the room and the ground heaved, jarring every bone in his body and sending fallen weapons skidding across the stone.

Then everything went dark.

.

Something big was happening underground, Zeref could sense it, but this wasn't the time to speculate on what.

Healing the dragon's wounds was beyond his abilities. Healing was a domain of magic that Zeref had never been especially adept at, possibly because of his curse. But... perhaps he could somehow share some of the power that allowed his own body to recover so rapidly when injured. He wasn't sure if that was possible, but then he hadn't become the wizard he was by thinking too much about what was or was not possible.

Zeref laid a hand flat against a patch of rough, scales, his heart aching at the sight of the blood that streaked the dragon's sides. This close, it was relatively easy to distinguish the bright red of the blood from the darker red of the armored hide. He didn't want Natsu to be hurt, especially not for his sake. He had to help if he could.

Once upon a time, Zeref had told Natsu that a wizard's power came from the heart. A wizard who didn't care would never attain any real power, but with heart, a wizard's power could be phenomenal. Phenomenal enough, perhaps, for a single wizard to affect even a dragon.

Natsu went very still when he felt the magic. He cocked his head, training one eye on the slender figure beside him. Zeref had said that he was going to try and reduce the effects of the poison, and sure enough, Natsu could feel the pain ebbing away. Odd though. Hadn't Zeref told him once that he was terrible at healing magic?

Zeref relaxed when he sensed the numbness receding. He hadn't been sure if simply sharing power would do the trick, but it seemed to be working. It was a good thing that he had such deep reserves of energy to draw from, because it was taking almost all of it to push back the creeping coldness.

Just another... minute...

All of a sudden, the dragon stiffened. Zeref tensed in response, opening eyes that he hadn't noticed closing, his concentration broken.

"Natsu?" he asked worriedly.

When the dragon did not respond, Zeref craned his neck to peer up towards his angular, spike-crowned head. The dragon's eyes were narrowed, but their gaze was unfocused. Even as Zeref watched, the formerly green irises seemed to gleam unnaturally bright with traces of red, and the wizard was seized by the sudden, terrible feeling that something had gone very, very wrong. That maybe there were some things about dragons that he hadn't taken into account, or something about his own magic that he'd miscalculated—or something about what he had with Natsu that neither of them had yet to fully understand.

That was the problem with having power. It was all too easy to forget to think things through.

* * *

 **TBC...**

* * *

 **AN:** It's funny. When I first created Edrik's character because I needed Rune Knight characters for the story, I intended to make him the main bad guy. But then the story got going, and I decided that I didn't want to just villainize the knights as a whole. That decision led me to try and make him a more reasonable and clear thinking person, and over the course of working with him, I grew rather fond of him as a character and decided to switch the main villain to someone else.

.


	34. Rage

**Disclaimer** : I do not own Fairy Tail.

 **Pairing(s)** : Natsu Dragneal x Zeref

 **WARNINGS: violence, alternative history,** **shounan ai (boy/boy pairing); you have been warned so don't like, don't read**

* * *

 **The Will to Live**

 **By V. Shalyr**

* * *

 **34\. Rage**

Somewhere close by, Zeref could hear men shouting at them, demanding to know what they thought they were doing, but he couldn't quite process their words through the coldness crawling down his spine.

"Natsu?" he asked again in a small voice.

The dragon said nothing.

Zeref attempted another question, but a blast of crackling, magenta energy cut him off. Natsu veered sharply to avoid the attack, and Zeref was forced to scramble away so as not to be crushed. Righting himself, the dragon reared up on his hind feet and roared. It was a different sound from the angry and defiant roars that had punctuated the previous battle and accompanied most of his attacks. No, this was a bone-chilling, primal sound, the kind of sound that had struck fear into the human subconscious for centuries, and the only emotion Zeref could find in it was pure, blind rage.

Zeref shivered. The sound sank cold claws right into his core, because it didn't sound like the Natsu he knew at all. Before he could try again to reach his partner, the dragon exploded into action, lunging for the Slayer who had attacked them. The man dodged back, but the dragon moved like a striking snake—much faster than before. Zeref saw the man's eyes go wide with surprise and fear just as a gust of wind from the other Slayer caught the man in the side and flung him away a split second before massive jaws snapped shut where he had been. Natsu roared again, and white-hot flames cut a jagged path across the earth, leaving a blazing wall in their wake. Fueled by magic, these flames devoured everything, continuing to burn even after every scrap of flammable material had been consumed.

The dragon's attacks were different, Zeref realized, because this time, they were backed by killing intent.

The dark wizard would have nightmares about the next few moments for the rest of his very long life.

The young Fire Dragon attacked indiscriminately, lashing out at anything and everything still moving on the battlefield and beyond it. The mountainside quickly became a sea of fire, and there was so much _blood_. Blood from the dragon and his battle with the Dragon Slayers. Blood from the knights that the dragon was no longer content to leave alone. Some of them attempted to fight while others fled, the true terror of facing a dragon that actually wanted them dead finally sinking in, but all of it was futile. Blood, soaking into the earth, still damp from the previous night's drizzle, and staining the dirt red.

"Natsu, stop!"

Zeref ran towards the dragon, his insides twisting with horror and fear—not for himself, but for what he might have unwittingly done to Natsu. A barbed tail whipped towards him, catching him in the chest, lifting him off his feet and throwing him several yards back into one of the white stone obelisks. Pain lanced through Zeref's head and back, and he wrapped an arm around his middle where the blow had left a gash across his ribs. He coughed, shuddering from the pain, his own, warm blood seeped through his fingers. The feel of it was surreal. Morbidly surprising, although he didn't have the time to spare dwelling on it.

"Natsu," he tried again, stumbling through the carnage and struggling to see through the smoke stinging his eyes and scratching at his lungs.

He couldn't hear people screaming anymore, but it had only been a few short minutes. They couldn't all be dead, could they? No, Natsu would never... But the dragon wasn't in his right mind, and Zeref felt sick because he was certain that it was somehow his fault.

At least there was a slim chance that some of these men and women were only unconscious. If they were lucky, they would remain that way for a good long while—at least until this was over, whatever "this" was.

Something massive and heavy loomed out of the smoke and the flames, and Zeref found himself staring up into the dragon's snarl, which displayed rows of jagged teeth like knife blades. He looked into those familiar, slanted eyes that were suddenly so incredibly alien and was struck by a startling realization. It was entirely possible that if the dragon really tried—really, honestly tried—he might actually be able to kill him. Even though Zeref hadn't seriously contemplated his own death for quite some time now, he was not afraid of dying. But... he had been completely honest when he'd told Natsu that sunny late morning that he wanted to live. As long as Natsu was still alive, he wanted to live.

 _I can't die here,_ he thought. _I can't allow myself to be killed here. Not like this._

Natsu would never forgive either of them if that happened.

Feeling ill now for an entirely different reason, Zeref began running through possible spells for defending himself. Just that morning, it would have been inconceivable that he might actually have to defend himself against his own partner, but no matter what, _both_ of them had to survive this.

Pale flames flickered about the dragon's jaws and Zeref lifted a hand, ready to throw up a shield—but nothing happened. Natsu did not attack him, although his gaze never left the dark-robed figure of the wizard.

Zeref swallowed, hardly daring to hope that whatever had caused the rampage was over. "Natsu?"

For a moment, he thought that maybe the dragon had finally heard him this time. He took a step forward, steeling himself to put up a barrier or back away. The dragon remained absolutely still, however, only his eyes shifting to follow the movement. Some of his wounds were still bleeding despite being well on the mend, but the effects of the poison seemed to have mostly vanished. So at least _one_ good thing had come of this. Another step forward and Zeref stopped, aware of a sudden shift in the air. At the same moment, Natsu sat back on his haunches and turned his head towards the sky, dark with smoke and storm clouds.

There was another dragon here.

The knowledge flashed through Zeref's mind a split second before Natsu let loose with a blast of fire that cut the dark heavens in half. Zeref squinted through the blinding light, just able to make out a shadowy silhouette as it swerved to avoid the attack. A returning blast of fire struck the ground nearby, and Zeref lifted an arm to shield his face from the heat. Natsu twisted out of the way and growled, launching himself into the air with a thunder of vast, leathery wings.

Zeref's heart hammered in his throat. He wanted to call Natsu back, but he doubted that his partner would listen to him. It had been a very long time since he had felt this helpless.

.

Igneal had been growing slightly concerned about his son. Natsu had been gone for almost a year, which was far longer than the older dragon had predicted the task would take. He knew his son was perfectly capable of looking after himself, but that didn't change the fact that he was taking his sweet time about returning home. Igneal could only assume that either something had gone wrong or Natsu was having too much fun eating his way through every human restaurant on his way to Eden Lake.

He strongly suspected that it was the latter.

Sometimes, Igneal wondered if his mate would have approved of the way their son had turned out. He still missed her terribly on some days when his mind wandered back to the past despite his best efforts, although it had been almost a century ago now. She'd been killed in a territory battle shortly after Natsu had hatched, leaving Igneal to figure out how to raise a baby dragon on his own in the midst of a war. Then again, both the many battles at the time and the responsibilities he'd had as a parent had helped distract him from the grief until the memories became less sharp and more manageable.

Igneal was thinking about all of this when he caught the smell of smoke—and not just smoke, but blood too, with burning flesh and heated metal. Those were the smells of a battle, and his son was somewhere in the midst of it.

Igneal had expected... well, he hadn't known what to expect really, except perhaps his son wreaking havoc. If Natsu was involved in a battle, chances were high that he had instigated it. That was the problem with young dragons, especially young, male dragons. They were often far too eager for blood. Igneal was slightly exasperated that his son had gone and started a fight with a bunch of humans, but he wasn't especially worried. Natsu could be reckless, but he was also very self disciplined as a fighter. Under normal circumstances, even if he was angry, he wouldn't fight seriously against normal humans... No, Igneal wasn't worried—until he got closer to the battlefield, at which point he felt a distinct twinge of... concern.

Something wasn't right.

He sensed it even before the flames lanced through the air towards him. Igneal swerved to avoid it and sent a warning shot back. Had Natsu not recognized him?

The next thing he knew, Natsu had taken to the sky and attacked him with a ferocity that was downright vicious. He left Igneal no room to even attempt talking, and one glimpse of the expression in Natsu's eyes told him it would have been pointless anyway.

Something was most definitely wrong, but he wasn't going to get any answers unless Natsu calmed down.

The battle was brief but brutal. Igneal had always been proud of his son, but he hadn't realized just how strong Natsu had grown. He was still young for a dragon, but he was no longer a child. Igneal couldn't afford to hold back, and the fight only ended quickly because Natsu had already expended a lot of energy. Despite that, he landed a handful of solid hits before Igneal managed to send him crashing back to the earth, half conscious but still furious.

Igneal landed facing him, and was further startled when a tiny, dark-haired human ran over and placed himself between the two dragons. He was only a boy really and so... well, _tiny_ in comparison to the two winged beasts, and yet his slim figure stood straight, determined and unafraid as he looked up into Igneal's face.

"I won't let you hurt him," the boy said.

"I wasn't trying to," Igneal told him.

The boy hesitated, taken aback perhaps by this calm and civil answer. "But you were fighting."

"He attacked me first," Igneal pointed out. "Besides, he's my son. I just want to know what happened here."

"Oh." The boy appeared to relax a little at this. "I see."

Igneal sat back on his haunches and surveyed the situation, completely and utterly baffled by this turn of events. The wild fury hadn't cleared from Natsu's eyes, but those same eyes were now fixed upon the boy. Igneal was slightly alarmed when the boy backed up so he was close enough to touch the younger dragon's dark crimson scales, but Natsu didn't attack him like Igneal had feared he would. If anything, his burning gaze seemed to calm—if only by a fraction.

Interesting.

"I have the feeling that you can answer my questions," Igneal said, his own gaze trained upon the human's pale face.

"I don't know what happened." The boy looked and sounded miserable.

Igneal contemplated this. He had the feeling that he already had some of those answers.

"Why don't you start," he said finally, "by telling me how you know my son?"

.

Zeref didn't even consider lying. He desperately needed help figuring things out, and this dragon before him who looked so much like Natsu was possibly the only person in the world right now who could help him. So Zeref told him everything that he could, starting with that fateful encounter in the woods when Natsu had come charging into the clearing to disrupt yet another attempt by the knights to kill him. He stumbled a bit whenever the particular nature of his relationship with the younger Fire Dragon came up, but there was a knowing glint in Igneal's eyes that told the wizard that he knew what he was not quite leaving out.

Partway through Zeref's explanation, the dragon lowered his head to sniff at him, causing Natsu to growl and attempt to get back onto his feet. Igneal quickly backed off, radiating apology, and Zeref moved to sit beside Natsu's head, hoping that the sight of his partner would calm him. It did, although there was still no real recognition in Natsu's eyes, and Zeref was able to finish the heavily abridged version of their story.

When he was done, Igneal shook his head and looked around again at the massacre.

"What a mess," the dragon sighed, folding his wings against his back.

Zeref lifted a hand to the ivory pendant around his neck, tracing the swirling patterns to distract himself while he waited for Igneal to finish processing what he'd been told. The wizard was tired and sad and worried, and he wondered how everything had gone so wrong so quickly.

"Well, I can assure you at least that what happened here was not entirely your fault, although you did make it worse."

Zeref scooted closer to Natsu, drawing comfort from the steady sound of the dragon's breathing. He was fairly certain now that the blow his partner had dealt him earlier had been an accident.

"What do you mean?"

Igneal shrugged—a bit of an odd motion for a dragon. "The bond my son created between the two of you—don't look so surprised. I can tell. He really should have talked to me before doing something like that. I'm not saying that I disapprove of his choice, you understand, but... There are reasons why such magic is seldom used anymore despite its usefulness."

"He told me... that it can make some dragons unstable," Zeref said, recalling that conversation in the library that seemed like an eternity ago. He had a sharp memory for things that mattered to him. "But he said it was only under certain circumstances."

"Certain circumstances," Igneal repeated thoughtfully. "Well, you could put it that way, although "some" dragons should really be replaced with "young" dragons. It is not unusual for dragons—young dragons in particular—to go a little mad when their mate is threatened or harmed. We are possessive creatures, and protective of the things we consider precious to us. It's not surprising really. We live a long time, and it's nice to have things to hold on to. But the connection you have... Such a connection can—and generally will—intensify such tendencies. In a bad way. And it's much worse with young dragons."

"And... what I did?" Zeref asked, not entirely sure he wanted to know.

"Well, he was already... less than calm. You two were in the midst of a battle, were you not? And your magic is tainted."

Zeref started at that. "Tainted?"

"Probably because of your curse. Nasty piece of work, that. It's not surprising that the power you gave him to heal his wounds would provoke a side of us that is... less than civilized."

The wizard felt cold once more despite the near scorching temperature of the Fire Dragon's armor-plated side. "The effects will go away though, won't they?"

The older dragon didn't answer right away. The human looked very small and very lost, huddled beside his son like Natsu was the only thing keeping him anchored in the world, and Igneal thought that maybe he could understand why Natsu had made the choices that he had made. Love showed up in unexpected places sometimes, but that didn't make it any less deep.

Huh, he never thought his son would end up falling in love with a human. Still, perhaps this was for the best considering Igneal's tentative plans for the future of their kind.

"I don't know," Igneal said honestly, although it pained him to have to tell the boy this. "The rage should have faded by now. There isn't anyone left here to fight, and you're right next to him. It's... troubling that he doesn't seem to recognize either of us. My guess is that it's because his magic is tainted now too."

"I... don't think I can reverse it."

"No, I didn't think so." Igneal took pity on the miserable little human and added, "Try not to fret. Dragons are very resistant to magical influence, and Fire Dragons like us even more so. I'm sure the effects will fade in time. Once it does, he will need to learn to manage your bond. He shouldn't have used the magic without first mastering his own instincts. But I suppose it didn't occur to him how much stronger they would be."

Igneal sighed and glanced around them at the battlefield once more. "I am worried about what happened here, however. A lot of humans have died here today. There will be humans coming after him now, probably Dragon Slayers too. I'm not sure what we will do. Adding to the body count will only make the situation worse."

"Could we hide somewhere until people forget?" Zeref asked. Having a problem to work on made him feel a little less depressed.

"It is very hard to hide a dragon," Igneal said dryly. "And humans have long memories for fears such as this. I should know."

Zeref turned his head to look at his partner. The thought of Natsu getting killed by Dragon Slayers was horrible, but the thought of Natsu killing more Dragon Slayers was almost just as bad. And Igneal was right. People were not inclined to leave alone those that frightened them, especially those who had blood on their hands. Or claws. And Zeref couldn't imagine Natsu running away. The dragon would never be happy to live in hiding.

"There has to be something we can do that wouldn't involve more deaths," Zeref said, starting to feel quite stubborn. This was important. They had to figure something out and soon.

"You know, I have heard rumors about you," Igneal said. "If you are as clever a wizard as people believe, I may have a suggestion. Really, it's been on my mind for awhile, but I wasn't sure if it was possible."

The boy blinked, returning from his own thoughts, and looked up at him. "If what was possible?"

"Well..." Igneal took a moment to choose his words. "We have ruled this world for many millennia, but I think it's time that we let it go. Dragons are no longer welcome. Well, we never were really, not by humans, but there used to be more of us and fewer humans. Humans are better at working together than we are too—one of your good qualities."

He paused, eyeing the wizard thoughtfully. "Our world was full of violence, so I do not begrudge this change."

"Humans can be just as bad," Zeref couldn't help but point out. He'd met plenty of evil humans.

"I know," the dragon said, just a little rueful. "But I have seen much caring and kindness from humans as well, far more than I have seen from most dragons. I cannot say if the world to come will be better than the one we have lived in, but I should like to see it. And perhaps find another way for us to live in it, a way that will be more peaceful. It would be easier to do that in a world where the memories of our turbulent history are less fresh."

Zeref understood what he was getting at, although it was an odd thought. Fiddling with time was difficult and dangerous, but perhaps... perhaps going into the future would be less problematic than trying to go into the past. And what safer place for Natsu to recuperate?

"You will have to be sure," Zeref said slowly. "It would only be safe to travel one way. You will not be able to change your mind and return."

"Yes," the dragon said, his voice calm and deliberate. "I know."

* * *

 **TBC...**

* * *

.


	35. Our Fairytale

**Disclaimer** : I do not own Fairy Tail.

 **Pairing(s)** : Natsu Dragneal x Zeref

 **WARNINGS: violence, alternative history,** **shounan ai (boy/boy pairing); you have been warned so don't like, don't read**

* * *

 **The Will to Live**

 **By V. Shalyr**

* * *

 **35\. Our Fairytale**

They were gone.

Zeref lay beneath a tree by the river with his arms folded behind his head, gazing up through the leaves at the sky—blue today with faint streaks of white cloud. It was the kind of sky that got reproduced in cheerful paintings and in children's books, but looking at it, Zeref just felt numb.

The dragons were gone. Most of the ones remaining anyway. Gone about three hundred years into the future where Igneal had decided that they would all start life over as human beings—more or less—in an era when the scars of the past would have had time to heal. An era where the existence of dragons would become but the stuff of stories. The healer woman had gone with them too, curious to see what changes three hundred years would make to the world. Unlike Zeref, she wasn't immortal and couldn't wait around to find out the normal way.

The wizard wished he could have left with them, but someone had to stay behind to destroy the time gate and he was the only one who could. Besides, Igneal thought it would be wiser for him and Natsu to spend some time apart while the younger dragon got over the effects of Zeref's tainted magic. He trusted the older dragon's judgment, even if the thought was a little painful. He may not have been the one who actually carried out the deed, but the Black Wizard still considered all the deaths from that day to be part of his already overly long guilt list.

Zeref lifted a hand, looking at the clouds through his spread fingers. He bet none of the people who came after him ever thought about just how troublesome it was at times to be a powerful wizard. Was it really okay for him to be happy?

"I shouldn't be thinking this way, should I?" he said aloud, asking no one in particular.

" _Of course not,_ " he could imagine Natsu saying. " _I'm gone for two days, and you're already getting all depressed again?_ "

"It's difficult to be positive when I'm alone."

" _But you're not alone. You have me_."

Natsu hadn't actually said these things, but Zeref was fairly sure he would have if he'd known what was on the wizard's mind. Natsu still hadn't recognized him, even though it had been weeks since the dragon's rampage in the mountains. Zeref could only hope that Igneal was right and things would settle down and Natsu would return to being himself.

" _You are too young to lose hope so easily."_

" _Young? To a dragon, perhaps."_

" _No."_ Igneal had shaken his head. " _I do not mean your years. You are young, even for a human, because you have not allowed yourself to really live. You do not have the experiences that come with age, for all that you have acquired wisdom beyond your years. You still have far too much life ahead of you, and my son loves you. He will not let that life be an unhappy one."_

Zeref let his hand drop to his side and sat up. Right, that was enough feeling sorry for himself. Beating himself up over what had happened wasn't going to change anything, and when he got depressed, a lot of things just died. It was a vicious cycle that he really should try to stave off for as long as possible.

Besides, there was someone that he had to see.

.

Rune Knight captain Edrik Ghalice was surprised to glance out the window of his small, country home to see a familiar figure dressed in black standing by the garden gate. That couldn't be... But he knew it was. He'd been around magic enough to know the difference between realities and illusions, and the person inspecting his flower beds was definitely very real.

The last time he'd seen the Black Wizard had been after the incident at the Mieye Library. The boy had found him and his team unconscious in the white chamber and woken him to ask what had happened to Dierce. Edrik could still remember every word of their conversation.

" _We sealed him away."_

" _I see. I'm sorry about your other companions."_

" _What do you mean?"_

 _The boy gestured towards the ceiling,. "The others who came with you... There was a dragon attack. I... was unable to save them. I'm not sure if any of them are still alive."_

 _This was shocking news, but not the most unexpected thing that had ever happened to him._

" _I am going to leave now," Zeref told him. "You and your men should remain down here for awhile, until you can be sure that the dragons have gone."_

" _There's more than one?"_

" _Yes."_

" _And you?"_

" _The dragons have asked me to do something for them. I am going to do it."_

Edrik hadn't asked for any more details, because he doubted that the dark wizard would say much more. In fact, he was surprised that Zeref had shared even that much of his plans.

Now, four months later, Edrik was still recuperating from the backlash of the incident in the bowels of the library with no idea when he would be able to return to active duty. The unnatural pain and stiffness in his limbs that had plagued him since that day had eased up some, but the recovery process was proving to be slow—another reason why people shouldn't fool around with powerful spells.

So what was the Black Wizard doing here? What possible reason could he have for seeking Edrik out? It couldn't be an accident. It was simply too coincidental.

Zeref glanced up when Edrik left the house and made his slow way down the brick path, stopping some paces away from the gate.

"What are you doing here?" Edrik asked, getting straight to the point. He'd never been one for beating around the bush.

To his credit, the dark wizard didn't appear to be either.

"I intend to disappear, once I find somewhere suitable," he said, his voice quiet but clear. "But I need to leave something for someone—so that he will be able to reach me if—when—he starts to look for me."

The knight captain raised his eyebrows. "And you're choosing to leave this clue with me?"

"You strike me as an honorable man. What better place to hide a secret about a dark wizard than with a member of the Rune Knights?"

"You might be right about that." Edrik considered this. "Can I ask what you've done with the Mieye Library? I took some men back there, but we were unable to enter it. We couldn't even find the original doors."

"I've sealed it off."

"Maybe you should have destroyed it."

The dark wizard thought this over seriously. "Maybe I should have. But... the place holds too many memories for me. I couldn't bring myself to do it."

"You're very sentimental."

"I suppose I am." Zeref shrugged. "So will you do it?"

"You haven't really explained what you're asking for," Edrik pointed out.

Zeref hesitated for a moment then slipped a hand into his pocket and pulled out a maroon cube only slightly larger than the dice people used in gambling houses. The cube had a squirrel carved on one face and flowers on all the others. How... odd.

"I'd like you to hold on to this for awhile, and to find some way to get it to a Fire Dragon Slayer—when one shows up."

"If one shows up."

"He will. But... not for a few lifetimes."

"Do you have a name to go with that description?"

"Natsu. His name will be Natsu."

"I see." Edrik frowned. "But if you're not expecting him for a few lifetimes, I won't be around."

The dark wizard lowered his head. "I know, but I was hoping you could think of something. Leave instructions for your family, perhaps, or leave your own clues around Mieye Library. I'm afraid that if I do it myself, it will be found too easily by the other people who want to find me."

"What other people?"

The boy's lips quirked in a humorless smile. "I don't know yet, but there's always someone—if not now, then later. So will you do it?"

It was strange, Edrik thought, but... he found himself inclined to accept. He wasn't on duty right now, and anyway, it could only be a good thing for the Black Wizard to disappear for awhile, right? With this in mind, the knight captain nodded slowly and held out his hand.

"All right. I'll do it."

The wizard's smile was relieved but also incredibly weary. The captain didn't think he'd ever seen anyone look so exhausted.

"Thank you."

It was the last time Edrik saw him.

.

Zeref lost track of time after that. It was easy to do when wandering the wilderness alone, and it wasn't like he had any reason to try and remember what day of what year it was.

Finding "somewhere suitable" was taking longer than he had hoped. There didn't seem to be anywhere that was safe or secure enough, and he couldn't afford to compromise.

Zeref struggled not to fall back into the haze of depression that had plagued him in the days before he'd met Natsu. He only managed it because of their link, although their separation across time as well as space made the feeling more of a painful ache than anything. He clung to that pain as evidence that it had not all just been a dream, a reminder that what he'd had—still had—with Natsu was real and could not be taken away.

On the surface, his life had gone back to the way it had been for most of the past century, but it was not the same. _He_ was not the same, and that was important.

And so he went back to wandering, letting his feet take him where they would and generally steering clear of towns and villages. A few times, he detoured into a bakery or restaurant when he spotted something through the windows that he'd eaten while with Natsu. It was incredibly sentimental of him, but he was completely terrified of forgetting how it had felt when they were traveling together. He needed those memories.

Zeref used to talk aloud to himself when he'd been alone. Now, he talked to Natsu, even though the dragon wasn't around to hear him. He spoke about his thoughts, shared observations of the things that he saw, and imagined what Natsu might have said in response. At times, he felt as though he could almost hear him, and he'd stop and wonder what kind of life his partner was—would be—living. It helped pass the time while he searched for somewhere to hide himself away, although part of him was beginning to despair of ever finding such a place.

These were the thoughts weighing on his mind when a girl with absurdly long waves of pale blond hair stumbled upon him in the woods. She was an illusionist, and she asked him an unexpected question.

"It's obvious that you're a powerful wizard. Could you teach me and my friends? We need to become stronger so we can help the town. There are some people we have to defeat."

The woods around them were silent, although there was a human settlement not that far away. That was probably the town she was talking about. Zeref looked at her, weighing the emotions in her voice with the expression on her face. She seemed sincere, and her motives did not appear to be selfish.

Perhaps he had been going about this all the wrong way. Perhaps it wasn't about finding a suitable place to rest, but about creating one.

"I am tired," he said, watching her expression carefully. "I will teach you and your friends, butt in exchange, I want you to help me find somewhere to sleep where I will not be disturbed."

"To sleep?" she repeated, confused.

He couldn't blame her. It had to sound like an odd request.

"That's right. I'm waiting for someone, but I'm not expecting him for awhile yet and I am very, very tired."

And that was how he found his way to a small island surrounded by ocean. Tenrou, the girl Mavis had called it. There used to be people living there, but the settlement had been wiped out by Dark Guilds several years ago, leaving Mavis herself as the only survivor. Now, the island was mostly forgotten, just a ghost from a dark past that the world didn't want to remember.

Rather fitting really.

Zeref wandered up from the shore where the fishing boat had dropped him off. He'd find his own way back, he'd told the fisherman, neglecting to explain that really, he had no intention of returning to the mainland anytime soon.

The island seemed quiet. Dense forests covered large parts of it, although here and there, he would glimpse traces of past human habitation. No one was here now though, and that was what mattered. Yes, he thought, this place would do.

" _My guild will protect the island_ ," she had said. " _It was my home after all. No one will bother you. You can stay there for as long as you like_."

Zeref believed her, although he wasn't certain that he should. Still, it wasn't like he planned on sleeping out in the open, so it didn't matter too much if she kept her word. He hadn't told her his name either, and almost nobody knew what he looked like these days. Years had passed since he'd seen the last wanted poster put out by the knights, and he rather suspected that Edrik had had a hand in stopping their circulation. If the Black Wizard wanted to disappear, they could minimize casualties by not trying to root him out. With the steady rise in dark wizard activity, the knights had other priorities.

Zeref wondered if the stoic captain was still alive. How long had it been since he'd made that visit to the man? A decade? More?

Shaking his head, Zeref pushed those musings away and focused on finding a path through the trees. He could hear running water nearby, and he was fairly certain he'd seen potential caves. If he was lucky, there might even be underground tunnels, and if there weren't, he could always make some. It wasn't like he didn't have time.

As he picked his way through drifts of fallen leaves left over from past autumns, Zeref thought wryly of the conversation he and Natsu had had over sandwiches and pastries in the library of Xander's old house in Sage Town. They had picked apart the story of the girl who'd slept a hundred years until finally woken by a kiss from someone who loved her. It was boring, they'd agreed, and impractical, not to mention implausible. Now though, the idea of sleeping for a couple hundred years while he waited for the person _he_ loved to return to him didn't sound so bad at all.

He would have to set up the spell in such a way so that Natsu—and Natsu only—would be able to break it. Hmmm, he didn't want to be woken by a kiss though. That was creepy. He didn't want any strangers manhandling his body either if he could help it, hence the key to the spell he intended to cast that he had left with the Rune Knight captain.

Zeref pushed his way past a curtain of vines and blinked rapidly in the sudden flood of sunlight. Before him, the forest temporarily gave way to a clear pool with a waterfall cascading into it on one side and a stream flowing out of it on the other. A dark crevice was visible through the cloudy spray of the waterfall, cut into the rocky cliff face. The crevice was wide enough for one person to step through, provided that person wasn't too obese, and beyond it was a narrow passageway leading into the heart of the island.

Well, that looked promising.

Zeref paused for a moment with his hand on the cold rock wall and glanced back over his shoulder at the sky. It was clear for now, but he could sense a storm on its way, a sign that this year's summer was drawing to a close. The wizard smiled a little and stepped through the crevice into the cool darkness, thinking about a different, grander waterfall and reading with Natsu while listening to the rain.

He didn't know if they would have their happily ever after. Their story wasn't exactly a fairytale, for all that it had turned out, after all, to be about love and dreams. But if they _were_ a fairytale and they _did_ get their ever after, Zeref supposed that this would be their once upon a time.

* * *

 **TBC...**

 _(End of part one)_

* * *

 **AN:** And that brings us to the end of part one.

The library story arc is _not_ over, but that'll come later.

 **.**


	36. A New Present

**Disclaimer** : I do not own Fairy Tail.

 **Pairing(s)** : Natsu Dragneal x Zeref

 **WARNINGS: violence, alternative history,** **shounan ai (boy/boy pairing); you have been warned so don't like, don't read**

* * *

 **The Will to Live**

 **By V. Shalyr**

* * *

 **Part II: Another Future**

* * *

 **1\. A New Present**

"You've been lying to me."

Igneal looked up from the travel bag he was packing, the clothes and other miscellaneous supplies he intended to take with him on his trip mostly still strewn across the covers of his bed. The room's single window was open, letting in a warm, summer breeze, but the pleasantness of the day did nothing to ease the scowl on his son's face. Natsu stood in the doorway of the small, second-floor room with his arms folded across his chest and his eyes narrowed. Well, at least there wasn't any red in those eyes. That was a good sign.

"What are you talking about, Natsu?"

"I'm not a Dragon Slayer."

Igneal's hands stilled in the process of folding an extra set of clothes, but when he didn't respond, Natsu continued.

"I'm like you. I look human, but I'm not. And you're my actual father, not adopted."

Slowly, the older man went back to packing. "So you're starting to remember. It's taken longer than I thought."

After all, a whole three years had passed since they'd made the jump forward in time. They'd spent one year out in the wilderness because Igneal needed his dragon form to deal with a Natsu who was still out of his mind with rage. The rest of their time had been spent here.

The townhouse where they'd lived for the past two years was silent around them, and the sounds of Magnolia's busy streets seemed muffled and far away. That was a major reason Igneal had chosen this place to be their home to begin with. Living with humans was all well and good, but sometimes, he missed the peaceful solitude of the wilderness.

Natsu's scowl darkened. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"If you don't know, then you haven't remembered enough."

His son's eyes flashed with anger at that, and Igneal sighed.

"Some things are best learned on your own. It wouldn't mean very much if I told you. Besides, we're living as humans now, so saying that you're a Dragon Slayer isn't completely wrong."

"But why did I forget? Why am I only just starting to remember? That's what, at least a hundred years I'm missing? More?"

"Something... happened. You had to learn to be yourself again. Please be patient. I'm sure you'll remember in time."

Natsu's expression grew a little less irritated and a little more confused. "You told me I had amnesia because of a magical accident."

"That part is true."

Igneal hesitated, his son's glower making him feel an uneasy mixture of guilt and regret. But... the fact was that it wasn't his fault. The guilt he experienced was due more to the sneaking suspicion that he hadn't done all that he should have as a parent—that he had somehow failed as a father. Maybe, if he'd done things differently, he could have prevented the trouble that had led to this situation in the first place.

"Are you going to check in on the others again?" Natsu asked, glancing at the travel bag.

"Yes."

Transitioning into their human identities and lives had been easier for some of them than others. As a leader, or as much of a leader as dragons ever had, Igneal felt responsible for helping the others deal with any problems that arose. To this end, he made it his business to visit each of the dragons who had come to this time with him at least once every year or so—at least until they were better adjusted.

"When will you be back?"

"I'm not sure. A fortnight at the earliest."

Natsu nodded curtly. He didn't offer to accompany him, and Igneal didn't ask. At the moment, it probably wouldn't be a good idea.

Igneal finished his packing without a word. The sound of him pulling the drawstring shut felt too loud in the tense silence. He winced inwardly at the thought of leaving things this way, but he wasn't sure what else he could do.

"Natsu..."

His son grunted. "What?"

"I had good reasons for not telling you. Please trust me on that. And... you can probably stop wearing that scarf. It should help. Although... if you find yourself feeling irrationally angry, you may want to put it back on."

That said, Igneal swung his pack over his shoulder and left.

.

Stop wearing the scarf?

Natsu looked at the scaly, white scarf in his hands, bemused. What was that supposed to accomplish?

Natsu weighed the item of clothing in his hands, trying to decide what to do. He'd grown used to wearing it, but if leaving it in his closet would help him recover his memories...

Making up his mind, Natsu pulled open the closet in his own bedroom and hung the scarf on one of the pegs on the back of the door. It felt strange. He couldn't remember the last time he'd been without it.

Well, no, that was a lie. He could— _now_.

The scowl returned to his face, and Natsu stalked down the stairs. He hadn't eaten breakfast yet, but when he got to the kitchen, he discovered that he wasn't hungry. He was too irritated to be hungry. What possible "good reason" could his father have had for lying to him? Even more importantly, what else had he forgotten? And why the hell did he feel so damned restless?

It had all started on his last job—a seemingly simple business involving mopping up a Dark Guild that had taken up residence in a town. Everything had gone like it always did with Natsu, Erza, and Gray having too much fun fighting and Lucy wondering why her teammates were all insane. They'd helped defeat and arrest all of the dark wizards and been ready to depart when something in the smoldering ruins of the Dark Guild's hideout had caught their attention.

" _You've got to be kidding. Are these what I think they are?" Gray asked, holding up the collection of wooden tags that had miraculously managed not to be incinerated during the battle._

 _Erza peered at the writing engraved into each thin piece of wood and smiled in amusement. "They look like charms—you know, like for luck and that sort of thing. I see one for good health, two for making money, and one for love."_

" _That's so... normal," Lucy said, shaking her head. "You know, those charms look kind of familiar. I wonder if we've seen the store they bought them from."_

It turned out that yes, they had. In fact, the shop in question was right in the middle of the town and belonged to an elderly fortuneteller. Not only was she quite famous in the area, she was the town's primary tourist attraction, and the grateful townsfolk insisted that the wizards stop by her shop for a free reading. The wizards hadn't been especially interested, but they'd humored the townsfolk and gone anyway.

Natsu couldn't even remember what the old fortuneteller had said anymore—some vague stuff that no doubt could have been said to anyone. What he did remember was the vase in the corner of the woman's shop, a tall, porcelain thing covered with thousands of tiny, painted spiders. Something about that vase had seemed strangely familiar, and the odd sense of nostalgia that it invoked lingered with him for the rest of the day.

" _Hey, can you tell me where you got that?"_

 _The old woman followed the direction of his gaze and laughed. "That old thing? It's been in my family forever. My great, great grandmother bought it from a trader for her collection, I believe. She was a fortuneteller too."_

" _Yeah? Weird taste in decoration."_

" _I agree, but," the old woman shrugged, "it's supposed to be enchanted. Supposed to tell your future by moonlight."_

" _It doesn't work though."_

 _The fortuneteller paused, eyes widening in surprise._

" _No," she said slowly, "it doesn't. I suppose a wizard would know."_

Natsu didn't tell her that it had nothing to do with him being a wizard. The truth was the he had no idea _how_ he knew, just that it was the truth.

That night, sleeping by the campfire on their way back to Magnolia, Natsu had dreamed of a long, winding river like a silver ribbon upon the earth, flowing down from a vast mountain range, into a lake dotted with tiny islands, and out through the hilly countryside. He'd seen it all from a bird's eye view in vivid detail, gliding high over the landscape with wind rushing past him rich with the smell of summer forests. It was the first of many dreams—dreams of flying, dreams of hunting with fangs and claws, dreams of fire and smoke and ash. And somehow, by the time the city came into view, he'd realized that these images, smells, and sounds were more than just dreams. He'd known—again, without understanding how he could know—that they were memories, and they were from a very, very long time ago.

Shutting yet another cabinet door, Natsu closed his eyes, focusing again on that nagging feeling of restlessness that those memories had brought with them. There was something he wanted, somewhere he was supposed to be, something he was supposed to find—but he could not for the life of him figure out what that was.

Natsu growled and left the kitchen, giving up on the idea of breakfast for now. He would stop by the guild and maybe pick up another job. Work would help keep his mind off things.

Natsu started to unlock the front door then hesitated, his father's departing words replaying through his mind. With a sigh, he went back upstairs, took the scarf from the closet, rolled it up, and stuffed it into his travel bag. He was mad at his father, sure, but he knew also that Igneal wouldn't have given him that advice if it wasn't important. Although Natsu had to wonder exactly what qualified as "irrational" anger.

.

Gray glanced up when Lucy sat down next to him with a mug of tea in her hands. Dawn hadn't been that long ago, and the main room of the Fairy Tail guild house was unusually quiet around them—a marked contrast from the normal din of conversation punctuated by the occasional brawl that characterized life at this particular one of Fiore's top-ranking wizard guilds.

"You're here early," she said, brushing a stray lock of her long, blond hair behind her ear and peering at his face. "You okay?"

The Ice Wizard sighed, setting down the letter in his hands. "I'm not sure. This just arrived for me yesterday afternoon from Master Ur."

He still kept up a regular correspondence with the energetic woman, but this time, her message had consisted of more than their customary exchange of news.

"Your wizard teacher?" Lucy asked, interested. "She was traveling, right? Looking for her daughter."

"Yeah."

"What did she say?"

Gray ran a hand through his short, black hair, frowning. "Actually, she's hoping we can check something out for her."

The Celestial Wizard raised her eyebrows, surprised. "She's giving us a job?"

"You could say that, yeah. Apparently, she's been having trouble getting in touch with a friend of hers who lives by a place called Eden Lake. Some guy called Torrance Hailey. Turns out communication to and from the area's been bad in general lately, for wizards at least, and she's been getting worried."

"Eden Lake," Lucy repeated as though testing the name. "It sounds familiar. You know, I think there's a town over there that's famous for producing some really special perfumes."

"Is it Sage Town?"

"Now that you mention it, I think it is. How did you know?"

Gray picked up the letter once more and turned it so she could read the beautiful, curling script for herself. "Lucky guess."

"You're going then?"

"Of course I am."

The Ice Wizard would do almost anything for his teacher. Ur had been like a mother to him ever since he'd started magic lessons with her as a child, and even though he'd technically "graduated" awhile ago when he officially left her tutelage and joined a guild, he still deeply admired and respected her.

"She says not to go alone though," he added, catching Lucy's eyes over the rim of her mug. "What do you think? Do you want to come? She's asking me as a favor so there won't be any pay, but it might be interesting. Eden Lake's supposed to be a pretty popular vacation spot."

Lucy considered, reviewing her current finances in her mind. They'd done several well-paid jobs recently, she'd already paid her rent, and overall, her budget was looking pretty good. While it was true that she'd managed to straighten things out with her father since running away from home and he would cover her living expenses if she asked, she took pride in being able to support herself.

"Sure," she said. "We should see if the rest of the team is busy. It's been awhile since any of us have had a vacation, and it'll be more fun with more people."

Gray nodded. "They shouldn't be busy. I mean, we only just got back yesterday. They couldn't possibly have already made other plans."

Before his companion could comment, the guild doors swung open and one of those teammates strode in, making a beeline for the job boards.

Natsu didn't look like he wanted a vacation.

His friends watched him from their table, unsure whether to call out to him. They noted with surprise that he wasn't wearing his usual white scarf, but then the Fire Dragon Slayer had been acting a little strangely ever since they'd finished their last job. It wasn't anything specific, nothing they could quite articulate. He still bantered and argued with the rest of them like he always had, but now and then, they would catch sight of him scowling to himself, his gaze narrowed and distant. It was obvious that something was troubling him, but it was equally obvious that he didn't want to talk to them about it.

After a moment of intense inspection, Natsu appeared to decide there weren't any jobs of interest and walked over to join them. Both of his friends briefly thought about asking him where his scarf was before just as quickly deciding that it was none of their business.

Lucy cleared her throat and offered him a tentative smile. "Um, Gray and I are going to check on a friend of his teacher's at Eden Lake. Do you want to come?"

Natsu's eyes sharpened. "Where?"

"Eden Lake," Lucy repeated, startled. "Somewhere called Sage Town. Have you heard of it?"

Natsu hesitated, and there was that strangely distant and yet intense look in his eyes again.

"Yeah," he said slowly, "I think I have, and sure. It's not like I have anything better to do."

There was a silence, made just a little uncomfortable by the strange tension that seemed to emanate from the Dragon Slayer. Then Gray cleared his throat, refolded his teacher's letter, and stowed it in his coat pocket.

"Guess now we just have to find Erza. We should probably think about renting a magic vehicle too. The place is kind of far away."

* * *

 **TBC...**

* * *

 **AN** : Eh heh, thanks. I fell in love with this pair long before the details on Zeref's history came out too. That's why Natsu and Zeref are never related in my fics. I mean, I started writing Firelight and Shadows after watching the Tenrou Island arc way back. Even though Zeref didn't have much actual screen time, the bits where he appeared stood out so strongly to me that I couldn't get him out of my head, and developing that story's sort of shaped the way I think about and handle these characters.

Personally, I don't really like the way the canon has gone, or what it's done with Zeref. Consequently, my interpretations of him are largely influenced by his early appearances when I found him most interesting. If it weren't for my continued attachment to this pair, I would have left this fandom a long time ago.

Anyway, I hope you're enjoying the start of part two. My most original plan was to make the end of part one match up more closely with the beginning of the original series, but I changed my mind since it would have required me to end part one more tragically.

I have made some alterations to the back stories of the main Fairy Tail characters. There will be bits and pieces on that as we go (well, mostly on Jellal and Erza...).

Also, in case you were wondering, the cats will _not_ be in this story.

 **.**


	37. Whispers

**Disclaimer** : I do not own Fairy Tail.

 **Pairing(s)** : Natsu Dragneal x Zeref, mentions of Jellal x Erza

 **WARNINGS: violence, alternative history,** **shounan ai (boy/boy pairing); you have been warned so don't like, don't read**

* * *

 **The Will to Live**

 **By V. Shalyr**

* * *

 **2\. Whispers**

Sage Town was really more of a city than a town these days. You could still find evidence of the walls and gates that had once defined the boundaries of the old settlement, but the human inhabitants had long since spilled over those boundaries and raised several generations of buildings out along the bank of the Glass River.

There were people, horses, and carts everywhere, filling the streets and milling on the roads leading into town. The pungent aroma of food hung thickly in the air, but it was tainted by the telltale fragrance of flowery perfumes and incense smoke. Several arts and crafts demonstrations were going on, and a handful of people were flying kites, the colorful contraptions tracing swooping patterns across the blue sky.

"This is rather nice," Erza observed, surveying all the activity with approval. It certainly didn't look like a place experiencing communication problems with the rest of the country.

This might turn out to be a wonderful vacation destination for the next time Jellal had time off from his Magic Council duties. As the youngest Council member in history, he was working around the clock to prove himself—never mind that he'd already earned himself a spectacular reputation as a wizard since he and Erza had arrived in Magnolia three years back looking to join an official wizard guild. She'd been happy for him when he received the appointment months ago—it was a testament to the recognition her partner had acquired as a wizard after all—but it was hard to be pleased about how his new responsibilities ate into the time they were able to spend together.

"I wonder what the occasion is. This is quite a festival."

A passing man laughed and answered her. "It's the monthly festival, of course. You must be new to this area if you haven't heard of it."

"Monthly?" she repeated, impressed. "You mean this event happens every month?"

If that was the case, then this cheerful hustle and bustle wasn't just a one-time thing.

"That's right." The man beamed with pride. "It's a longstanding tradition here, a time for all the folks who live around here to gather together and have a good time—sell stuff they made and eat plenty of great food."

Erza smiled, eyes gleaming. That was excellent news. "I'm looking forward to it already. Any recommendations?"

Lucy leaned in to listen as well, making mental notes of things she wanted to try.

The man rattled off suggestions on different places for unusual snacks and great shopping deals, stopping only when Gray cleared his throat and held out a piece of paper.

"Sorry to interrupt, but do you know where we can find this address?"

Natsu stood a little apart from the others, only half paying attention. The sight of the walls of the old town invoked an incredibly powerful sense of déjà vu. He had been here before, he was sure of it, but the town had looked different then—smaller for one thing, although just as noisy and full of life. Natsu had vague recollections of waiting around in a long queue of people and carts, and when a laughing group of adolescents passed by carrying paper bags of cubed sweet potato, he was swept into a memory.

The sun had been high that day, beating down on the dusty road that ran along the riverbank and up to the town's open gates. There had been a paper bag of chopped sweet potato in his hands, and there had been someone with him. Someone wearing a dove gray cloak with its hood pulled over his head despite the heat.

Natsu frowned, trying to remember the person's face. Whoever it was had been standing very close to him though, peering towards the gates with an air of uneasy anxiety, and the angle prevented Natsu from getting a clear view of his features.

"Natsu? Hello? Earth to Natsu. Are you all right?"

Lucy's voice broke his concentration and the memory fled. Natsu sighed, fighting down a flare of irritation. He'd almost had it! Why was this so difficult?

"I'm all right," he said. "Let's get this over with. I want a look around."

.

It wasn't until they reached the address in Ur's letter that they felt the first twinges of misgiving. Located in a quiet and supposedly "historic" part of town, the house seemed at first glance to be deserted. All the windows were dark, their curtains drawn, and the front yard was overrun with weeds. Gray rang the doorbell several times and waited, but no one answered. He lifted a hand to try knocking instead, but before he could, a woman came out from the house next door. She paused in the motion of emptying her mailbox and called over to them.

"If you're looking for Torrance, he's not in."

The Ice Wizard let his hand drop and turned towards her. "Do you have any idea where he went?"

The woman tapped her chin with the corner of a long, white envelope. "That's a good question. Last I saw of him, he looked rather pale. Told me that there was something odd about the water, and he was going to investigate. Went running off like he was late for something."

"Can you remember when that was?" Erza asked.

"When? Hard to say. Maybe a week ago? Two? Honestly, I wasn't paying all that much attention. I don't mind admitting that most of the things he says go way over my head."

"Thanks anyway," Gray said.

The woman smiled apologetically. "Sorry I couldn't be of more help. Best of luck to you. I hope you find him."

After she'd gone back inside, the wizards turned their attention back to the seemingly empty house.

"What now?" Lucy asked, standing on tiptoe to peer through the stained glass panel in the front door. It was hopeless though. It was dark inside, and the tinted glass made it even more impossible to see anything.

Natsu cracked his knuckles and started for the side door leading to the garden. "This guy's been missing for awhile, right? He won't mind if we break in around the back to make sure he's not dead in there or something."

"I hope he's not," Erza said dryly. "But you do have a point."

Natsu was fully prepared to break the door down, but it turned out that he didn't have to. The plain, wooden thing swung open easily when he pushed on it, revealing a backyard littered with buckets and jars. The water in these varied in color from murky green to a pale, translucent blue that couldn't possibly be natural. It kind of resembled a crazy artist's workshop where the water used to clean paintbrushes was never thrown out.

The door from the garden into the house was also unlocked, which made all four of them hesitate.

"You don't think he really is dead in there, do you?" Gray wondered aloud, worried now. He'd hate to have to write to his teacher to tell her that her friend had passed away—and probably not from old age. That would definitely qualify as bad news.

Natsu inhaled deeply then said, "I don't think so. I don't think he's home at all."

Erza squared her shoulders and lifted her chin. "Well, we won't know for sure if we stand around out here."

She summoned one of her many swords and stepped over the threshold. Behind her, she heard Lucy mutter under her breath, "I wonder if this counts as breaking and entering." The older woman's lips twitched in amusement, but before she could respond, the sight of Torrance Hailey's unfinished meal on the dining table arrested her tongue and made her wrinkle her nose. The quarter of a sandwich on the once white porcelain plate was completely overtaken by mold, but the bowl next to it was the worst. Whatever soup had been left in it had congealed into a greenish brown mess, and there was a dead fly stuck in it.

"He obviously left in a hurry," Gray observed, grimacing. "And he probably didn't expect to be away for very long."

"Maybe we can find some clue as to where he went," Lucy suggested, moving carefully around the table to examine the many papers scattered upon it. "He was probably looking at these before he left. They look like reports on things that have been happening around town. The handwriting's a little hard to read though."

The four of them spread out around the table, trying to puzzle out the contents of the many handwritten notes and documents. There were a few magic circle sketches scattered throughout the text too.

"He underlined these two words here," Natsu said, pointing. "It looks like—white key? Well, that's weird."

"White key?" Erza repeated, her eyebrows shooting up towards her hairline. "Didn't that man we spoke to before the gates of the old town mention something similar?"

Lucy's forehead scrunched up with the effort of recollection. "I think you're right. He did. It was the White Key Potion Emporium. He said it was a really popular new store. Do you think it's related?"

"It's worth a try," Gray said, searching through his coat pockets. "Damn, I think I lost that map."

"We can get another one," Erza said, starting towards the doorway to the next room. "There were plenty of people passing them out in the marketplace we passed through. But first, let's search the rest of the house and make sure it really is empty."

"Do you think it's okay if we leave our travel bags here?" Lucy wondered aloud. "I'd rather not lug everything all over town, especially if we end up in a fight."

Which was looking more and more likely.

Erza shrugged. "I don't see why not."

When they finally left, Natsu lingered in the front yard, frowning at the house. It didn't look familiar from the outside, but the layout of the rooms and floors had reminded him of... somewhere. Frustrated when the memory failed to grow more concrete, he turned away and started after his friends only to halt when his gaze landed on a different house further down the street.

" _You do realize that this means we'll have to stay at your house for now, don't you?"_

" _Of course. I wasn't lying when I said our house feels far too large for just two people."_

" _But what are we going to tell your grandmother?"_

" _The truth."_

With great effort, Natsu tore his gaze from the house and started down the street after the rest of his team. He was certain of it now. He had been here before, and he had not been alone. Strange though. If he'd been a dragon, why was he running around in a town as a human, even going so far as to live in a house? What would have been the point in that?

.

The White Key Potion Emporium occupied a two-story building not far from the docks. The silver paint used to place its name in elaborate, swirling letters upon the store front glittered in the sunlight, clean and unmarred—almost brand new. Potions of various colors lined the window display along with a large, stuffed owl who glared fixedly through the glass at the people passing on the street. The man who had introduced them to the place hadn't been kidding about its popularity. There were so many customers flowing in and out through its ornate, glass door that it was no trouble at all for the four wizards to slip in unnoticed.

Sneaking through the door behind the counter that led up to the second floor proved a little more difficult.

The four chose a less crowded corner of the shop to confer. Deciding whether or not to purchase any of the potions around them appeared to be difficult for many people, and knots of whispering customers could be seen all throughout the large room.

"This whole shelf is labeled as sweet dream potions, and that other one says it's supposed to give you visions of your future," Lucy said, peering at the labels upon the bottles and flasks of multicolored liquid. "Do you think they actually work?"

"Why, you want to try one?" Gray asked. "I've heard of sweet dream potions. They're probably legitimate. But I'm not so sure about the visions of the future."

The Celestial Wizard considered this then shook her head. "Maybe not the visions. I'm not sure I'd want to know my future. And anyway, it would be impossible to know if what you saw was true or not until it happened, in which case what's the point?"

After a brief discussion, it was decided that Lucy would approach the shopkeeper at the counter and draw him away with questions about the merchandise. Natsu and Gray would sneak through to the back of the shop, and Erza would keep an eye on the remaining two shop assistants. The whole operation went smoothly, and when the two wizards stepped through the door behind the counter, they found themselves on the landing of a staircase with steps leading both up and down. Without a word, the two split up, Gray heading down to the basement while Natsu made his way up to the second floor.

The Dragon Slayer knew before he reached the top that there was no one up there. He could have turned around and gone to the basement as well, but... something in the air stopped him. It was a smell that really shouldn't have been on the second floor of a popular store frequented by the public.

 _Blood_.

The scent was coppery and stale—not fresh, but not especially old either. It wasn't so strong that Natsu thought anyone had been killed up here, but it was strong enough that the source had to be more than an accidental knick. It couldn't be for use in any of the potions they had on sale in the shop. Natsu would have noticed.

The Dragon Slayer followed the scent of blood to the last of the four doors that led off of the second floor landing. The room beyond appeared to be some kind of office, and the source of the coppery odor was a bronze, knife-shaped letter opener on the desk and a set of small, blue glass vials. Natsu frowned at these, but before he could inspect them more closely, the collection of papers beside them caught his attention.

For a moment, he stopped breathing.

The world beyond this room suddenly felt very far away. Something crashed downstairs—something was happening in the basement—but not even the shouting and the thunder of heavy footfalls could distract him.

Among the many documents before him was a wanted poster, a very old one judging from the brown and crackling paper. The black ink sketch upon it was faded and scratchy in places, but Natsu didn't need any more than those sketchy suggestions to know exactly what the image had looked like.

* * *

 **TBC...**

* * *

 **.**


	38. A Long Ago Promise

**Disclaimer** : I do not own Fairy Tail.

 **Pairing(s)** : Natsu Dragneal x Zeref, mentions of Jellal x Erza

 **WARNINGS: violence, alternative history,** **shounan ai (boy/boy pairing); you have been warned so don't like, don't read**

* * *

 **The Will to Live**

 **By V. Shalyr**

* * *

 **3\. A Long Ago Promise**

How could he have forgotten?

Natsu's hands clenched into fists at his sides as he stared at the papers on the desk, all the pieces finally clicking into place in his mind. Suddenly, the restlessness that had been plaguing him made total sense. Wait, just how much time had passed since then? Natsu felt a sudden wave of panic. How long had it been since the last time he had seen the wizard in the sketch? Was he okay? And where was he now?

Natsu shut his eyes for a moment, searching for a connection that he knew had to be there. When he found it, he breathed a sigh of relief. At least he knew that Zeref was still alive, albeit somewhere far away. As soon as they finished this job, Natsu would find him.

Natsu had promised him that they would always be together, that he wouldn't allow Zeref to end up alone again. So how had he allowed them to be separated like this? That last part of their time together was still a blur, colored in shades of fire and blood. Something bad must have happened, but what?

Wait a second, what were the people who ran this potion shop doing with an old wanted poster of Zeref? They couldn't know who the poster was actually for, could they? The knights had taken care not to write the dark wizard's name on it, fearing—and rightly so—that it would give other dark wizards ideas. Had these people figured it out somehow? And if they had... Most of the people who decided to take an interest in Zeref were not the kind of people he or his partner would care to associate with.

Eyes narrowed, Natsu snatched the paper from the desk and turned to storm back downstairs.

.

The battle in the basement had not gone as planned. Well, actually, Gray hadn't had any plans. It wasn't like they'd even been sure that anything fishy was going on here—or that they would find the person they had been charged with locating.

But if he _had_ had a plan, it definitely wouldn't have involved part of the ceiling caving in and getting trapped with Torrance Hailey and two dark wizards, one of which was the—currently unconscious—shopkeeper. The man had come running down the stairs the moment the fighting had started, and they were just lucky that Gray's teammates hadn't arrived to join them before the ceiling about the stairs collapsed. The Ice Wizard could hear them now, busy digging through the wreckage.

"This is all your fault," the dark wizard who was still awake accused him, coughing on the dust that filled the air. There was smoke clouding the air too, from several flasks of liquid that had exploded when knocked to the floor. "Renovations are going to cost a fortune!"

"I wouldn't worry about renovations if I were you," Gray retorted. "You and your friend there are going to prison for kidnapping and, from the looks of things, distributing poisons."

"I'm going to be in so much trouble," the man moaned, clutching at his sandy hair.

"I'll say."

The dark wizard snorted. "I'm not worried about prison, you fool. All considered, I'll probably be better off there now that you've ruined our work here. The knights these days are a joke."

"Yeah? I'll be sure to tell the knights who come to pick you up that you think so."

"I think you might have given this one a concussion," Torrance said from where he was examining the unconscious dark wizard.

Ur's friend was a wiry little man that put Gray in mind of a spider or a monkey. Being held captive for a little over a week didn't seem to have harmed him much, although he did appear a little tired and malnourished.

"The guy deserves it," Gray told him. "Besides, he attacked me first."

It was almost an hour before his friends managed to clear a path down to them. Erza dropped into the basement with a sword ready in her hands, but she dismissed it when she saw the state they were all in.

"We've cleared everyone out of the shop," she informed them. "It's a mess up there. There are broken bottles everywhere, and I swear some of those potions are corrosive. You should really keep the explosions to a minimum when you're underground like this. You're lucky the whole building didn't fall on you."

"That wasn't my fault. They've been brewing some dangerous stuff down here."

The dark wizard scowled at the both of them, but wisely chose not to comment. Instead, he folded his arms across his chest and glowered at them.

"Do you need my help down there?" Lucy called down through the gap in the rubble.

Erza waved at her. "No, stay there. Just be ready to act if these men try to pull anything when we send them up."

Before Lucy could respond, Natsu moved past her and leapt down into the basement. Ignoring his teammates, he stalked over to the conscious dark wizard and brandished a piece of paper under the man's nose.

"What are you doing with this?" he demanded, voice hard and cold.

His friends blinked and strained to see what was on the page. It looked kind of like a traditional wanted poster, but it was so old that it was almost falling apart.

The man started in surprise when he saw what Natsu had found, but he recollected himself quickly.

"That's just something a colleague gave me," he said with obviously feigned nonchalance. "It's nothing important."

Natsu growled. "Don't lie."

The dark wizard's gaze grew frosty. "Just because you guild wizards have caught us this time doesn't mean we have to tell you anything."

A note of contempt crept into his voice when he added, "Anyway, it's hardly any business of your so-called "legitimate" guilds."

Natsu moved so quickly that no one had time to react. He grabbed the dark wizard by the collar of his potion-stained robes and slammed him back against the wall, twisting the fabric and shoving hard. The man clawed at his collar and the Dragon Slayer's fingers, struggling in vain to restore the flow of oxygen to his lungs.

"It— _is_ —my business. You're going to tell me why you have this wanted poster or I'm going to make sure you're never able to tell anyone anything again."

Erza was the first one to recover.

"Natsu! What are you doing?"

Her teammate eased the pressure he was applying to the man's windpipe—but only enough so that he wasn't choking him.

The man wheezed and managed to squeak out, "Okay, okay! The boss told me to see what I could do about restoring the image since I've had some experience with these things. We've been looking for that wizard since—well, I don't know when exactly. Things have changed a lot this past year, ever since this new wizard joined our guild. He just appeared out of nowhere one day, though we think he and the boss might be family. That's everything I know. I really just handle potion production here at this shop."

Natsu glared at him for a moment longer, studying the wizard's expression. Then he let the man drop, turned on his heel, and left without another word.

Nobody tried to stop him.

After he had disappeared out through the shop, Lucy climbed carefully down into the basement, her face pale.

"What was that all about?" she asked.

Erza pursed her lips, frowning. "I don't know, but we're going to find out. He's been acting strangely ever since our last job. It's about time we asked him to explain himself. If it's going to interfere with work, then we have a right to know."

Gray bent to retrieve the wanted poster that Natsu had let fall when he'd gone after the dark wizard. Holding it up to the light from the bulb fixed to the ceiling, he squinted at the sketch.

"The quality's pretty awful," he said. "And there doesn't seem to be a name anywhere."

He lowered the paper and looked at the man, who was still massaging his bruised neck. "What can you tell us about this person? Do you know who he is?"

The man stared at them like he couldn't believe they were asking him this after their friend had almost strangled him. When he replied, none of them could quite believe his answer.

.

Natsu strode quickly through the town, not stopping until he'd made it back to Torrance's house. He went straight to the travel bag he'd left in a corner of the sitting room with all his friends' luggage, pulled out the scarf his father had given him years ago, and draped it back about his shoulders. He wouldn't admit it aloud to anyone, but his own actions back at the potion shop had shaken him. For a moment there, the edges of his vision had gone red, and what he'd actually wanted to do was rip the man's throat out for daring to imply that anything about his partner was none of his business.

Now he understood what his father had meant by irrational anger.

Natsu sensed the difference the moment he was wearing the scarf again. He felt calmer, but it also seemed to make his senses less acute. The most notable change, however, was that when he was wearing the scarf, it was almost impossible to feel the link he shared with his partner—like the connection didn't exist at all. He frowned when he realized this, and after a minute of fierce, internal debate, he took off the scarf again and put it back in his pack.

No, he had to learn to deal with this on his own eventually. And the only way to do that was to practice. For dragons living among humans, adjustment was largely about managing one's instincts and becoming more self disciplined—tasks that had proved more difficult for younger dragons than older ones who had had more experience with living in the world. Natsu had listened to his father talk to enough of his—their—fellow dragons to know that ignoring these problems wouldn't make them go away.

So instead, jaw set with grim and stubborn determination, Natsu sat down on the ivory couch and tried to remember everything Zeref had ever shared with him about managing his own emotions. It was about schooling yourself into particular ways of thinking, or something like that, and he seemed to remember the other wizard meditating a lot. Of course, just realizing that you had a problem was of major importance.

Damn, what was he going to tell his friends when they asked why he'd gotten so riled up? He wasn't willing to tell them the whole truth just yet, not until he'd had time to work everything out himself.

He was still pondering this dilemma when he heard the others return, their voices drifting through the doorway as they stepped from the garden into the dining area. The dark, spidery little man from the basement was with them, as well as a stern-faced woman garbed in white and silver armor.

"We've been trying to track down the members of this Dark Guild for weeks," the knight was saying. "Their emblem is a white skeleton key. They used to be a small-time organization dealing in poisons, which is nasty enough business in itself. But recently, they seem to have been involved in a number of unusual incidents."

"Unusual how?" Gray asked.

The dark-skinned man was the one who answered, scurrying around the dining table. "Let me guess. Strange as in perfectly ordinary people doing stupid things like walking out on their families without explanation."

"That's right," the knight said, joining him in examining the scribbled notes. "Are these the papers you wanted to give me?"

The man—he had to be Torrance, considering the situation—nodded briskly. "Many of the wizards in this town have been among those acting strangely. Most of them are—were—friends of mine, so I took it upon myself to look into it. It turned out that all of them had been about the river docks shortly before they jumped off the deep end. I thought maybe there was something in the water that we hadn't noticed. When I went to investigate, I saw a former colleague of mine speaking with that shopkeeper from the Potion Emporium, and when I confronted them..."

He shrugged. They knew the rest.

"Will these be of use to you?"

The knight nodded and began gathering up the documents. "I believe they will, thank you. This confirms a lot of our theories."

She gave them all a grim smile. "They've been recruiting large numbers of new members. The rate at which this Dark Guild is growing is incredible—unnaturally so. We very much doubt that all the new recruits are there because they honestly want to be."

"Do you mean blackmail?" Lucy asked, frowning.

"Maybe in some cases, but we suspect something more insidious than blackmail. Of course, it could be wishful thinking on our part. Perhaps there's simply a lot more discontent in the kingdom than we want to admit."

The woman shook her had, tapped the edge of the papers on the tabletop to make the stack line up, and glanced around at the other people gathered around the room. She paused when her gaze landed on Natsu standing in the doorway to the next room.

She blinked, her brows furrowed, and then asked, "Excuse me, but you are a Dragon Slayer, is that correct?"

"Yeah, why?"

"I heard that Fairy Tail had a few Dragon Slayers in it," the knight said. "I've been meaning to visit your guild to talk to some of you. Do you mind if I ask what element you use?"

Dragon Slayers were uncommon these days, so it wasn't the first time that another wizard had expressed interest in his magic. Still, this knight didn't appear to be an enthusiast of so-called Lost Magic. She was too serious, and there was something about the way she spoke that gave Natsu the feeling that she was looking for a particular answer.

"It's no secret," he said with a shrug. "I'm a Fire Dragon Slayer. And before you ask, my name is Natsu."

Slowly, the knight nodded. "So it did happen. I'm a little surprised."

Catching the bewilderment on the faces of her audience, she explained, "I know this sounds peculiar, but there's this set of instructions that have been passed down through my family. Apparently, someone left a package with an ancestor of mine several generations ago called Edrik Ghalice for a Fire Dragon Slayer by the name Natsu."

Erza raised her eyebrows. "Several _generations_ ago?"

"That's right. I suppose the person was probably some sort of seer." The knight nodded her head at Natsu. "In all this time, you're the first wizard we've ever heard of that fit the description, and I doubt there will be another since Dragon Slayers are practically unheard of these days. I'm almost positive that package was meant for you. If you and your friends stay in town for awhile, I can go ahead and send for it."

"Uh, sure," Natsu said, just as surprised by this turn of events as the rest of his team. He couldn't remember ever having met anyone by that name—or ever seeing anyone who resembled this woman either. What could anyone from that long ago possibly want to give him that would still be important after several generations?

The question had no sooner flickered through his mind when he thought of the memories that had sent him hurrying from the potion store. There were only a handful of humans who might have left him anything, and only one human who would know to tell this woman's ancestor to look for him a couple centuries later. Suddenly, he very much wanted to know what was in that package.

"All right then," the knight said, tucking the papers under her arm. "Thank you all for your assistance today. Torrance, if you think of anything else, please get in touch with us. Natsu, I'll drop by again when the artifact arrives."

With that, she bid them all a good day and departed, exiting through the garden the same way they had arrived.

As soon as she was gone, Erza put her hands on her hips and leveled a grim stare at the Dragon Slayer.

"Natsu," she said, her words clear and deliberate, "did you know that the person that wanted poster was supposed to be for was the Black Wizard Zeref?"

Natsu met her gaze with a steely one of his own while he debated with himself how to answer.

Finally, he replied, "Yeah, I did."

There was a sharp intake of breath from the others in the room.

"How?"

Natsu considered his options. He'd been working with these wizards for almost two years now, and he thought of them as good friends. He didn't want to lie outright.

"I've... met him before," he said carefully. "Before joining Fairy Tail. I'd kind of forgotten about it until recently."

"So he really is still alive?" Lucy asked, amazed. "But that means he has to be super old."

Natsu suppressed a grin, remembering the dark-haired, rather young-looking human informing him with utmost solemnity that he was more than a hundred years old.

Gray shook his head. "Well, I'm glad you're starting to remember things from before. The past is important. I suppose that explains why you've been so distracted."

Erza was still frowning, however. As the unspoken leader of this team and the most senior member of Fairy Tail present, she felt obligated to get to the bottom of this. She was certain there was a lot more to this story, but there was a challenge in Natsu's unwavering stare that told her he wasn't going to say a word more.

Torrance glanced from one wizard to the other then coughed.

"I don't know what's going on with all of you, but I haven't had a decent meal in almost two weeks. You're all welcome to join me for a late lunch."

He glanced at the sorry remains of the last meal he'd had at home and added, "I'll just clean this up, and we can get takeout."

* * *

 **TBC...**

* * *

 **.**


	39. Key to the Past

**Disclaimer** : I do not own Fairy Tail.

 **Pairing(s)** : Natsu Dragneal x Zeref, mentions of Jellal x Erza

 **WARNINGS: violence, alternative history,** **shounan ai (boy/boy pairing); you have been warned so don't like, don't read**

* * *

 **The Will to Live**

 **By V. Shalyr**

* * *

 **4\. Key to the Past**

Clarice Ghalice sat back in her chair with a yawn, the ink still drying on her report for that morning's events. The Rune Knights had a small posting here in Sage Town, so she and her team hadn't had to pay for rooms at an inn. Still, the chairs in this place were unbelievably uncomfortable. You'd think such a large and important organization could afford furniture that didn't just add to a person's aches and pains.

Rising from her seat, Clarice walked over to the window and pushed open the shutters to let in a cool, night breeze. They'd taken two dark wizards into custody and picked up some solid evidence that the White Key was using potions to coerce new members, targeting wizards who weren't especially active in legitimate guilds for their recruitment. They'd even managed to get their hands on several vials of the disgusting stuff, and she'd sent them to the research department for further analysis. Then there was the odd artifact that had been entrusted to her, the one that she was finally going to be able to deliver.

Taking all these facts into consideration, she felt that she could safely say that she'd done a good day's work.

It wasn't easy, trying to live up to her family's reputation. Almost all of them had been members of the Rune Knights since Edrik Ghalice's time.

The street outside was far from dark despite the late hour, lit by pools and slices of light from the street lamps and shop windows. Clarice knew that some of her teammates found this town to be too simple of a posting. It wasn't somewhere you got sent if you were expected to accomplish great things. The two dark wizards they'd brought in today were the first dark wizards to have shown up here in the past fifty years. But personally, Clarice liked the peacefulness. There was nothing with a little boredom when bloodshed was the alternative.

Still... she had a bad feeling about this new Dark Guild that her superiors were tracking. Such a major shift in a guild generally meant new leadership, and she'd heard from the Fairy Tail wizards that one of the dark wizards had indicated something along those lines. What bothered her was where such a new leader might have come from. The knights hadn't heard any rumors about new, powerful dark wizards, and it was extremely unusual for such skilled wizards to remain completely anonymous.

Then there was the series of break-ins at headquarters. She wasn't high-ranking enough to have been told the details, but she knew it had everyone losing sleep.

Sometimes, Clarice was glad that she had yet to be promoted, although being glad also made her feel guilty. Her parents were always telling her how she wasn't ambitious enough—how she was talented and ought to be striving for more responsibility and more recognition.

Clarice sighed, tapping her fingers on the windowsill. The polished wood was cold to the touch.

What advice, she wondered, would Edrik Ghalice have given her? Despite the fame he'd acquired later in his life, family lore mentioned that he'd turned down major promotions at least twice over the course of his career. Although once he _had_ finally accepted a position of greater authority, he had continued to adhere to a strict set of personal ethics that had made him one of the most well-liked and respected leaders the Rune Knights had ever had.

Clarice groaned mentally. He'd probably tell her she had to work harder to help maintain the peace.

Someone knocked on her door then pushed it open.

"You're supposed to wait for me to say it's okay, Eiji," she said with a sigh. "What's the emergency?"

The young man in her doorway ran a hand distractedly through his shoulder-length, dark green hair and gave her a worried look. As a Rune Knight, he was fairly competent despite—or perhaps because of—his dislike of combat, but his real value on the team stemmed from the fact that he was perhaps the most powerful telepath in Fiore.

"I've contacted your family," he said slowly, never taking his gaze from her face. "But there's been a problem."

He sounded both apologetic and troubled, Clarice decided, which was really not comforting at all.

"Is someone hurt?" she asked, fearing the worst. Her grandfather had been getting up there in years, and his health had been deteriorating. During the cold spate last winter, they'd almost lost him to pneumonia.

"No, it's nothing like that," Eiji reassured her. "It's just... a group of wizards broke into the estate. The good news is that they used a really powerful sleep spell, so no one actually got hurt."

He stopped.

"And the bad news?" Clarice asked finally when he didn't continue.

Eiji sighed. "That artifact you asked for, it seems to have been stolen—along with a couple other things from the main house."

.

 _The Black Wizard Zeref._

Erza didn't think there was a wizard alive who hadn't heard that name at one point or another in his or her career. When she and Jellal had been younger, several of the children in their town had been abducted by a Dark Guild intent on holding them hostage in order to force the townsfolk to work for them. It was just the Dark Guild's bad luck that some of the children had learned magic by watching the dark wizards and proved to be extremely adept at it. They might have been young, but that wasn't the same as being helpless. Led by Jellal, the children had eventually escaped and led a group of Rune Knights back to the hideout. But what had those memories returning to her now was a conversation that she'd overheard while being held captive.

" _They claim they know where to find Zeref."_

" _And you believed them? You're such an idiot. Half the Dark Guilds out there think they know where to find him, but nobody's managed it. There have been rumors about him for centuries. It's practically impossible these days to separate fact from fiction. Hell, most of it is fiction."_

" _That's the thing. They said they've managed to track actual, confirmed stories about Zeref to somewhere between two and three hundred years ago."_

" _I repeat, everyone says stuff like that."_

" _Will you let me finish? Don't you see what a big deal that is if it's true? You'd be able to narrow down locations to places that haven't seen much human activity in all this time. God knows such places are getting fewer and fewer these days."_

" _Assuming he really was sealed away somewhere. If he's wandering around..."_

" _That's the thing. Apparently, they've got someone who can "read" information about a wizard as long as he has something he or she enchanted."_

" _So you're telling me that this wizard has confirmed that Zeref isn't wandering around. Is that how they know where to find him?"_

" _Uh, no, it seems the exact location is shielded somehow."_

" _Useless."_

" _No, it's not useless! In fact, since the interference isn't from Zeref's magic, it means that someone else is protecting his location. Another wizard guild."_

" _I... guess that is an interesting hypothesis. But answer me this, why the hell would a legit guild_ protect _the Black Wizard Zeref? He's only the most famous dark wizard in history."_

" _I don't know. Maybe so a Dark Guild doesn't get access to his knowledge and magic. I'm just telling you what I've heard. Don't be such a skeptic. It's no fun talking to you sometimes."_

" _Well, pardon me. I didn't know I had to be entertaining as well as good at my job."_

Erza had mentioned the conversation to Jellal afterwards and been slightly disturbed by how interested he had been. Perhaps it was a common flaw among a certain type of wizard that the idea of meeting such a skilled practitioner of the arcane arts held such a strong attraction. Still, they had had other things on their plate at the time, and Jellal hadn't brought it up again since.

Honestly, Erza had almost forgotten about that conversation entirely until today.

Erza sighed and swirled the tea around in her cup. The clear, amber liquid had long since gone cold, but it was too much of a waste not to drink it.

She wondered if Jellal would mind if she called. It was almost midnight, but he tended to work late hours anyway. At the same time, if he was getting some much-needed sleep, she didn't want to wake him.

The rasping sound of slipper-clad feet made her glance up from her seat at the dining table. Torrance appeared in the doorway a moment later, glanced at her in surprise, then started into the kitchen to reheat the kettle upon the stove.

"I was wondering who was still up," he said, walking back to join her at the table with a bowl of dried fruit. "I'm very pleased to have the chance to meet you, you know. I've heard so much about you and your guild."

"From Gray's teacher, or just in general?" Erza asked. She took a sip of her cold tea and made a face. It wasn't the worst drink she'd ever had, but it came close.

"Both." Torrance's smile was warm and cheerful. He'd been beaming ever since getting released from captivity—no surprise there. "Ur loves talking about her students. She's very proud of them. She told me that Gray started working with you from the first day he became an official guild member."

"He did." Erza waved vaguely in the general direction of the stairs. "The four of us joined the guild during the same year—me then Gray then Lucy—and Natsu almost a year after me. Since none of us had stable teams we worked with, we got teamed up together for jobs a lot."

"So it was by chance."

"By chance," Erza smiled a little. "But we worked well as a team, so we've stuck with it."

Torrance nodded slowly. He hesitated, examining Erza's face, then said, "The Dragon Slayer, he surprised you today?"

Erza sighed. "He did."

"He's also still awake, I believe," her host informed her. "I saw him climb out a window on my way down here. He's probably on the roof right now."

So Natsu wasn't sleeping either. On another day, Erza would have been surprised. She'd never known the Dragon Slayer to have trouble sleeping before. But after today, she wasn't sure what to think. Half of her wanted to confront him about what he had told them earlier, but the other half was wary of the shadow that she'd seen in his eyes.

"It's unsettling," Torrance said, "when it turns out you didn't know someone as well as you thought."

"It's not an unusual occurrence," Erza said dryly. "But I suppose I feel responsible. His sudden interest in this dark wizard is... troubling."

Torrance shrugged. "Understandable, but sometimes, we just need to give people some time. There could be all manner of reasons that we don't know about. I have to admit that I've had a few friends who might be considered dark wizards—not people who went taking assassination jobs or anything like that, you understand. But people who didn't fit in with regular guilds and wanted no part of them."

She gave him a skeptical look. "This is the Black Wizard we're talking about."

"All I'm saying is that you never know. I've learned not to be too quick to make up my mind."

The kettle began to whistle, and Torrance excused himself to attend to it before it woke the only two people left in the house who were actually getting any rest.

Erza downed the rest of her tea in a few large gulps and stood up. Well, Jellal had said that she could contact him at any time. A bit less sleep wasn't going to kill him. Maybe he'd even know something about this whole White Key business.

.

He had dreamed of the past again.

It felt like he'd spent the last three years of his life only half living.

Natsu stood by the chimney of Torrance's house, peering down the street towards the house where Xander and his grandmother used to live. It was bizarre to think that the accident-prone photographer had probably passed away centuries ago. Natsu wondered if the large, old house still belonged to Xander's descendents, or if the family had sold it off at some point. Whatever the case, the dragon was glad that the residents had chosen to maintain the building's original appearance. The front yard was much better kept and the house itself had a new coat of paint, but those were minor alterations—necessary changes to keep an old building on its feet.

Natsu debated with himself whether or not to head over there and examine just how the property had changed. It was probably a bad idea even if he didn't intend to break in or steal anything. Still, it was incredibly tempting.

Not only was that house a reminder of an extremely important part of his life, it was evidence that he was not going crazy. Not, Natsu thought wryly, that he'd ever been the kind of person who questioned his own sanity.

Before he could make up his mind, movement at the other end of the street caught his attention. Two figures were hurrying around the corner, their steps quick and nervous, the faded white of their cloaks making them look like ghosts in the darkness of the night. When they reached Torrance's residence, they turned into the front yard and made a beeline for the front door. Natsu recognized one of them from that morning, and he narrowed his eyes as he jumped down from the roof to intercept them.

The two knights halted in their tracks, startled by his sudden appearance.

"Problem?" he asked.

Of course there was a problem. People didn't visit other people unexpectedly in the middle of the night because everything was going well.

To her credit, the female knight took only a split second to recover from her shock and then cut straight to the point.

"It's gone," she said, voice cracking with obvious distress. "The artifact I told you about. We've just found out that it was stolen last night."

"Do you know who took it?" Natsu demanded.

"Everyone in the house was caught by a sleep spell, so no one saw them," the other knight explained. "Although judging from the particular sleep spell used and its magnitude, we think it was a wizard who went missing from her home some weeks ago. None of her friends have heard from her since then, and before that, they say she suddenly became very antisocial despite having been very outgoing in the past."

Which meant she was one of the individuals who had been exhibiting uncharacteristic behaviors. One of those unusual new recruits to a Dark Guild interested in his partner.

Natsu took a deep breath then asked carefully, "Can you describe this artifact you had? Anything you can remember."

The woman looked uncomfortable. "I only got to see it once—back when my grandmother was the one who had charge of it. After that, she had it sealed inside this box made to look like a book. I remember thinking that it looked like a large dice, except it had these pretty pictures on the sides instead of dots. And it was this sort of dark, reddish purple color."

Natsu would have interrogated her some more, but just then, Erza's voice drifted out to them through one of the second floor windows.

"Natsu? Are you out there? We have to talk. It's important."

"There are some people from the Rune Knights here," Natsu called back, raising his voice so she could hear him.

There was a pause, and then Erza asked, "Can you tell me their names?"

Natsu glanced at the knights.

The woman from that morning cleared her throat. "Clarice Ghalice and Eiji Ellison."

Another pause, and then Erza replied, "You two can join us if you're not busy. You might as well hear this."

.

The round, compact mirror sat open atop the dresser in the room Erza had chosen to stay in. It was a present to her from Jellal the year before and sported some beautiful mother of pearl inlays, but the craftsmanship wasn't what made the item truly valuable. No, what made this gift special was the enchantment Jellal had placed upon it that allowed them to use it as a communication device with its twin.

The blue-haired wizard's face could be seen in the mirror's silvery surface now, exhaustion and stress making his skin pale and causing the red tattoo on his cheek to appear unhealthily vivid in contrast. He waited until everyone had filed into the room before speaking, his voice seeming to come from the air about the mirror.

"There was an attack on the Fairy Tail guild house just an hour ago."

His audience stiffened. Lucy gasped, Gray leaned forward in his chair, and Natsu straightened from where he had been leaning against the wall. The two knights exchanged uneasy glances from their spot by the door. Only Erza's expression didn't change—she'd heard the basics already.

"Luckily, no one was hurt too badly, although it will be awhile before the effects of the poison completely wear off."

Jellal ran a tired hand over his face. "I've been in touch with the guild master. Makarov has confirmed that the attackers took a painting and a compass from his office."

"A painting and a compass?" Gray repeated, puzzled.

"From what I understood of his explanation, both items were passed down to him from the former guild master. Both are tools meant to help someone locate Tenrou Island and pass through the island's magical defenses. Without the help of those tools, non-guild members would get caught up in the island's misdirection magic."

"Tenrou Island, that's a sort of sacred home ground for the guild, right?" Lucy asked, trying to recall what she'd heard about the place from the older members of the guild. "I heard that Fairy Tail has important meetings there sometimes."

"That's right," Jellal said, his mouth set in a grim line. "Makarov says that he doesn't know why those wizards want to go there, but that it's always been important to keep the island safe—as a sanctuary for the guild's members. He's asked that the four of you leave for the island now, since we doubt the thieves will be wasting any time."

Natsu frowned. "But didn't you just say that we need that painting and compass to reach the place?"

The blue-haired wizard shook his head. "Let me clarify. You need the compass if you're not an official Fairy Tail guild wizard. The painting itself is actually a coded map—directions, if you will. I'll hand this mirror over to the guild master after this, and you can write down his instructions. Sage Town is quite famous for its enchanted ships. You should be able to borrow one that can get you quickly to the ocean."

"Wouldn't it be faster by air?" Erza asked.

At this, a small smile finally broke onto Jellal's face. "Like I said, they have some pretty amazing ships in that town. Expensive, I hear, but very worth it."

* * *

 **TBC...**

* * *

 **.**


	40. Tenrou Island

**Disclaimer** : I do not own Fairy Tail.

 **Pairing(s)** : Natsu Dragneal x Zeref, mentions of Jellal x Erza

 **WARNINGS: violence, alternative history,** **shounan ai (boy/boy pairing); you have been warned so don't like, don't read**

* * *

 **The Will to Live**

 **By V. Shalyr**

* * *

 **5\. Tenrou Island**

Worth it. Right. Because who wouldn't want a ship that could sail through the sky and carry its crew above the clouds?

"There are enchantments woven into the structure of the ship itself to cover all the common concerns and safety hazards," the shipwright said proudly, resting a loving hand against the side of the craft he was introducing to them.

The stocky, bald man looked so much like the wizard shipwright Natsu remembered from his last visit to Sage Town centuries ago that, for a moment, he wondered if the human had found a way to time travel with the rest of them like the healer woman had. But that was ridiculous. That man had no connections to the dragons or Zeref whatsoever and no reason to want to abandon his successful shipbuilding and tourism business. Still, the resemblance was uncanny.

"There are temperature regulation spells that will prevent you from being chilled or sunburned," the shipwright continued. "Bad weather poses no problems either. This particular vessel will provide shielding against rain, high winds, and lightning. We've even managed to develop a charm against fear of heights so that such individuals can enjoy the incredible view that travel by air has to offer."

"We'll take it," Erza said, already in love with the beautifully crafted vessel with its carefully sculpted, sparrow figurehead. The small bird was the ship's namesake, suitable for one of the smaller flying ships at the dock.

The shipwright smiled, pleased. "So how long did you want it for?"

"Oh, we're not renting," Erza said. "I want to buy it."

The man's jaw dropped. "I—I thought you told me you just needed it for one trip. It's... rather pricy if you're only going to use it once."

Erza smiled. "No worries. I plan to use it more than just this once, and I'm prepared to pay the purchase price."

And that was how Erza Scarlet went to rent a flying boat for their journey to the ocean and ended up as the proud owner of one instead.

Her teammates could only shake their heads. It wasn't unusual for Erza to splurge on "souvenirs" while traveling, but Jellal was really going to get a shock when she got home with this one. First and foremost, they'd have to find a place to keep it where their neighbors wouldn't complain.

Then again, as the vessel lifted up out of the water and glided smoothly up towards the stars, they had to admit that this time, Erza might have bought something truly special. It was a completely different experience from riding in a traditional airship. There were no ceilings or walls to separate them from the vast emptiness of the night sky or to prevent them from feeling the wind on their faces. The moon was a nearly complete disk of white against the satin darkness, its pale radiance not unlike the round, pale, enchanted lamps that hung at regular intervals along the ship.

Natsu wished his partner was here to see it all. Zeref would have enjoyed the experience; he'd always been so fascinated when people were able to accomplish amazing and useful things with magic.

As it were, the Dragon Slayer wasn't appreciating the view as much as he might have. Natsu didn't really _want_ to go island hunting. Sure, he was mad that these people—probably dark wizards—had attacked the guild, but... He wanted to go hunt down the bastards who had stolen the artifact that he strongly suspected Zeref had left for him. Fairy Tail had plenty of capable members who were ready and willing to defend it. The only person Zeref really had to depend on was Natsu. And yet... much as he hated to admit it, he was a little worried about what he might do if—when—he caught them. There was also the fact that if Fairy Tail had really been protecting this island since the guild's creation, it was probably important.

Perhaps part of being grown-up right at this moment was choosing _not_ to go tearing off after the thieves.

Well, the sooner they finished this assignment and caught the dark wizards, the sooner Natsu could get to the Ghalice estate to investigate.

"Natsu?"

The Dragon Slayer glanced away from the shadowy landscape far below dotted with clusters of artificial lights.

"Yeah?"

Erza moved to join him at the railing, a slight frown on her face. She folded her arms, drumming her fingers against the heavy fabric of her coat sleeves, and then lifted her chin.

"I overheard this conversation once many years ago. I think... that it might interest you."

.

What would have taken them at least a week by water took them only two days with the _Sparrow_. It helped that, for the most part, the ship steered itself as long as it was provided with a clear set of instructions.

Once the landscape below had given way to open water, the four wizards arranged themselves by the railing around the _Sparrow_ to keep a lookout for their destination. Aside from two fishing vessels and a pod of dolphins, however, the sea appeared to be empty.

"Are you sure we're in the right area?" Gray asked after awhile.

"I have no idea," Erza said dryly. "Ask the navigator."

Gray looked at the sparrow figurehead and the small compartment beneath it where they had placed the paper with instructions. "Yeah, somehow, I don't think the navigator will be answering any questions. Maybe the handwriting wasn't neat enough."

"It can't be that," Lucy protested. "My handwriting's perfectly readable, which is more than I can say about yours."

Natsu interrupted them, his own gaze still fixed upon the water. "Hey, I can smell trees. I think the ship has it right."

No sooner had he spoken then something in the atmosphere shifted. One moment, there was nothing but blue ocean stretching towards the horizon in all directions as far as their eyes could see. Then the next, an island had shimmered into view practically right below them.

The four wizards fell silent. There was a certain aura of tranquility about the place that encouraged new arrivals to pause and give it a second look. There was a certain quietness about the atmosphere too that put them in mind of abandoned settlements or ghost towns long since reclaimed by nature. Certainly, nature was the ruling force on this island, covering much of the island with shades of green.

As the _Sparrow_ drifted in a slow circle above the island, uncertain where its passengers wanted to stop, Natsu's breath caught in his throat. His pulse quickened with excitement. Quite suddenly, he knew that this was _exactly_ where he wanted to be.

He hadn't know what to make of the story that Erza had told him, or the suspicions that she had shared as to what might be waiting for them on this island. The last thing he'd expected was for her to be right. It had seemed far too coincidental—almost too convenient. But then fate could be funny sometimes, and maybe it was time for them to have a little luck of their own.

Natsu glanced over at Erza. She raised an eyebrow then narrowed her eyes in comprehension.

"Guys, look over there," Gray said, pointing.

Three armor-clad ships were anchored just off a sliver of sandy beach. From this distance, it was difficult to tell if there was anyone left onboard.

"How many people do you think came?" Lucy wondered aloud, fiddling nervously with her ring of Gate Keys. Those were some impressive vessels down there, the kind that she imagined navies might approve for sailing into battle.

"More than a dozen," Erza said, pale pink light shrouding her for a moment as she summoned a set of armor and a sword. "I count fifteen coming out of the woods to greet us, and they're probably just the lookouts."

"Are we supposed to fight them all?" Lucy asked, dismayed. "That'll take forever! And with the head start they've had, they have got to be all over this island by now."

"I'll stay to keep these wizards occupied," Erza said firmly. "The rest of you should see if you can figure out and find whatever they're here looking for. Like Lucy said, it will take far too long if we focus only on hunting down all the trespassers. It will be far more efficient if we can get our hands on whatever they're after and let them come to us. Or at least stop them from getting what they want. Focus on potential hiding places, and keep an eye out for anything unusual or out of place."

This reasoning made sense, so the others didn't argue.

"Give them hell," Gray said to Erza by way of encouragement—not that she needed any.

The taller wizard grinned, her eyes glinting. "I intend to."

She set the _Sparrow_ to hovering over the sandy shore, and they were off, jumping the short distance down to the beach and charging full tilt towards the trees.

.

Natsu dodged a spray of small energy spheres that exploded upon impact with the ground and struck the back of the wizard's neck hard with the edge of his hand, sending the man sprawling. The Dragon Slayer didn't wait to see if his opponent got up again. It was the middle of a hot, summer afternoon, but the dense foliage above cast the forest floor into cool shadow. These woods smelled old, less like the public parks that broke up the monotony of populated towns and cities and more like the untamed wilderness that used to thrive all over the kingdom.

Natsu could hear his friends calling for him to slow down. He seriously considered ignoring them, not at all sure if having them with him when he found his partner was a good idea, but in the end, he paused by a thicket to wait for them.

"Hurry up!" he called back when they drew closer. "We have a lot of ground to cover."

"But where do we even begin?" Lucy asked, stopping by the thicket and leaning on her knees to catch her breath. That mad dash from the ship had been less than fun.

"Trust me," Natsu said, turning his attention back to the path ahead of them. "I know what I'm doing."

He didn't need to focus on "potential hiding places" as Erza had put it. He had something better than strategic guesses.

Lucy frowned after him, then looked at Gray and mouthed, "What does he mean?"

"I'm sure we'll find out," the Ice Wizard replied, shaking his head. "Come on, he's leaving us behind."

It quickly became apparent to the two that their friend was not "searching" so much as he was following some sort of path that was clear only to him. Now and then, he would pause, but rather than looking for a route through the underbrush, he appeared to be looking inward—lost in thought.

The three of them moved rapidly towards the heart of the island. Sometimes, they would hear other people moving somewhere off amidst the trees, but they managed not to cross paths with any enemies. Natsu's teammates itched to ask questions, but the Dragon Slayer was so focused on whatever he was doing that it seemed wrong to bother him. Just when they had resolved to speak up anyway, they found themselves emerging from the tree line into a clearing where there was a waterfall and a clear, shallow pool. More interesting than this rather picturesque scenery, however, was the crevice in the cliff face. Without a word, Natsu headed straight for it, stopping only briefly at the entrance to make sure no one was waiting to attack them from the shadows.

"Am I the only one who thinks this is a little creepy?" Lucy wondered, keeping one hand on the rough stone wall as she followed Natsu down the tunnel.

"I think how creepy it is depends on what we find down here," Gray muttered. "Who would have guessed there was a whole network of tunnels and caves underground here?"

Lucy winced, thinking of a time in history when people had used catacombs to house the dead. She really, really hoped they didn't run across any skeletons.

"There are two people coming this way," Natsu said, halting abruptly just outside of a cavern with two more tunnels branching out of it.

The three of them hid behind a few jagged outcroppings of rock, keeping low and close to the wall and straining to see through the semidarkness. Presently, Gray and Lucy too could hear footsteps accompanied by annoyed voices.

"If they've got someone who can track him with that artifact, why the hell do we still have to search the area like this? I hate being forced to do busy work."

"They told us they weren't sure if it would work, didn't they? I mean, we only think it was something he created. There was never any real guarantee."

The first speaker grunted. "You have a point there, I suppose. Certainly didn't look like anything special to me. You'd think something made by Zeref would be more impressive."

Natsu tensed when the two men stopped in the cavern, holding up a yellow lantern and looking from one tunnel mouth to the other.

"So which way?" one of them asked.

His companion sighed. "Here."

That said, he took out a coin and flipped it, catching it on the back of his hand. Both dark wizards glanced at the face-up side of the coin then turned towards the tunnel where the guild wizards were hiding.

No way, _that_ was how they were deciding which way to go?

Lucy half expected Natsu to leap out and attack the two men, but he didn't. Yes, he had tensed when they tossed their coin, but he'd relaxed again after they made their choice. Lucy wondered if that meant Natsu didn't want them going down that other tunnel.

Sure enough, after the sound of footsteps had faded away, Natsu moved out from their hiding place, across the cavern, and towards the tunnel that the dark wizards had not chosen.

The ground beneath their feet sloped sharply downward now, although visibility was slightly improved by a collection of glowing stalactites. Here and there, patches of fluorescent moss lightened the darkness a little more, and they thought they even glimpsed an occasional firefly. The combined effect was just a little unearthly, and Lucy tightened her grip on her keys, the warm, solid metal calming her nerves.

"Natsu, do you know how much farther we have to go?" she asked finally when they passed through yet another cavern. It felt like they had been walking for hours, even though it probably hadn't been nearly that long. It was hard to keep track of time here underground.

"Not far," Natsu replied shortly. Now that they were almost there, he felt the beginnings of anxiety. He had no idea what they would find—what to expect. What was Zeref even doing in a place like this? Had he come here of his own volition? Been brought here by someone else? The only thing that reassured him was the peacefulness of the emotions he sensed from his partner. That had to be a good sign, right?

Ahead of them, the tunnel forked, splitting into two, much narrower passageways. Rather than choose one of these, however, Natsu began running his hands over the wall to their left.

"Can we help?" Gray asked, squinting at the mural of rock, earth, and tree roots. There didn't seem to be anything unusual about any of it.

"There should be some kind of doorway here," Natsu said. "There probably won't be any distinguishable markings, but if we can just find where it opens..."

The other two joined him at the wall, pressing their palms cautiously against patches of rough stone or damp plant matter, attempting to locate some part of the wall that was less solid. Every second that ticked by, they grew more tense—more attuned to every little sound in the darkness. They kept expecting to hear footsteps or unfamiliar voices coming down the tunnel behind them or along one of the other pathways.

Then, just when they were ready to break out the heavy-duty magic and break the wall down by force, something sank under Lucy's seeking hand. With that one shift, a whole section of the tunnel wall swung inward, hitting something part of the way so that the gap remained only just wide enough for one person to pass at a time—provided they weren't too chunky and walked sideways. Lucy and Gray wasted no time edging through, careful not to catch their clothes on any sharp bits of stone. Natsu waited impatiently for them to clear out of the way, steeled himself for what he might see, and followed.

* * *

 **TBC...**

* * *

 **AN:** Ah, I'd love to have a flying ship. I think it seems like an awesome way to travel.

 **.**


	41. The Crystal Prison

**Disclaimer** : I do not own Fairy Tail.

 **Pairing(s)** : Natsu Dragneal x Zeref, mentions of Jellal x Erza

 **WARNINGS: violence, alternative history,** **shounan ai (boy/boy pairing); you have been warned so don't like, don't read**

* * *

 **The Will to Live**

 **By V. Shalyr**

* * *

 **6\. The Crystal Prison**

The first thing they noticed was how bright it was, and it wasn't the cool iridescence of the moss and stalactites that had illuminated the other caverns they had seen. No, this was a warm, outdoors sort of light, like the sun on a late afternoon.

They glanced up, half expecting to miraculously find open sky above their heads. Instead, what they saw was a stone ceiling covered with intricate carvings, glowing as though suffused with late afternoon sunlight. Natsu recognized the pattern of magical symbols that had been employed in the abandoned library's underground greenhouse to channel natural light from outside. It must have taken Zeref an inordinate amount of time to recreate it, Natsu thought, impressed yet again by the complexity of his partner's work as a wizard. Yet amazing as the ceiling was, it couldn't compare with what lay at the center of the chamber.

A crystal pyramid rose from the floor as though it had grown there, its four sides as smooth and flawless as the highest quality glass. And there was someone inside—a boy sitting with his knees drawn up to his chest and his head bowed. Slightly disheveled, black hair provided a sharp contrast to his pale complexion. He looked young, possibly in his mid teens, and his eyes were closed as though in sleep. He didn't appear to be breathing.

"That's supposed to be the Black Wizard?" Gray asked, his tone dubious. "Are they sure they have the right person?"

They had the right person all right, Natsu thought. He swallowed the lump that rose in his throat and walked in a slow circle around the crystal, checking the figure inside for any signs of injury. He felt a little better when he didn't find any.

"What now?" Lucy asked, looking from the crystal to the doorway then back again. "It doesn't look like we'll be able to move him."

She and Gray both looked at Natsu. He was the one who had led them here after all, but the Dragon Slayer was at a loss. They couldn't just stand around here indefinitely, but he couldn't see anyway to get his partner out of the crystal prison he'd placed himself in.

"Maybe we should look around for clues?" he suggested at last. Zeref had to have left some kind of hint for him, assuming he had intended to be woken by Natsu and not to simply sleep for the rest of eternity.

Unfortunately, there didn't seem to be anything to find. More intricate carvings covered the floor around the crystal, but after extensive consideration, the three wizards concluded that it was probably whatever spell the sleeping boy had used to encase himself in the crystal in the first place. Other than that and the even more elaborate work upon the ceiling, the chamber was entirely unremarkable. They gathered before the crystal once more, scratching their heads and wondering what to do next.

"I suppose if we could cut the whole thing loose from the ground, we could break the door apart and push it along the tunnel until we got outside," Gray said. "I'm sure with all four of us working together, we could probably get it onto the ship..."

He trailed off. That sounded a little farfetched even to his own ears. Besides, if that really was Zeref in there, he wouldn't have made it that easy to move him.

Lucy sighed. "Or we could just wait here and deal with any dark wizards who show up until Erza can join us. Maybe she'll have better ideas. I can send a spirit to tell her where we are."

Natsu started to reply that that seemed like all they could do, but a disturbance nearby stopped him. He turned to face the doorway, scowling.

Alerted by his wariness, his teammates turned as well, ready to attack. Technically speaking, they ought to have a strategic advantage since only one person could enter the chamber at a time. However, when it came to fighting wizards, there was never any guarantee—assuming they were any good anyway.

They waited.

Natsu's eyes narrowed. The strangers had paused outside, but he couldn't hear any talking. If they were discussing their next step, they were either unbelievably quiet, or they were signing to each other instead. Or maybe they had a telepath with them.

One minute became two and then three.

Finally, Natsu raised his voice and snapped, "We know you're there, you know. You're not going to catch us by surprise."

This was followed by another long silence. Then with a series of loud snapping and cracking sounds, the entire slab of rock that had once been the cavern door crumbled. Dust billowed up to cloud the air for a moment before settling like grayish brown snow over the rubble. The new, much wider opening revealed a group of five individuals, three men and two women. One of the men still had his hands raised, palms out as though resting against a now invisible wall. Slowly, he let them fall back to his sides and surveyed the guild wizards with a contemptuous smile.

"Well, well," he said, glancing past them to the crystal and its sleeping occupant then back again. "I'm surprised you were able to find this place so quickly. Unless, of course, you guild wizards knew all along that you were harboring a criminal."

Natsu bristled. "He's not a criminal, and it's none of your business how we found him. We're here now, and we're not going to let you have him."

The stranger raised his eyebrows. "But he's a dark wizard like us. Why do you care?"

Gray answered him. "Like you said yourself, you're dark wizards. It would be stupid of us _not_ to care."

The man gave a short laugh. "Point taken."

"Besides," Gray added, "we don't even know for sure who he is. We only have your word that he's a dark wizard."

"Don't be ridiculous," one of the women scoffed, the thick, wooden bangles on her arms clacking as she crossed her arms. "You expect us to believe that your guild has been protecting this place for centuries without even knowing who that wizard is?"

She caught a flicker in their expressions that made her gasp. "You really didn't know? You have the Black Wizard Zeref hidden away on your island, and you had no idea?"

Gray and Lucy shifted a little uncomfortably on their feet. They couldn't really dispute that, and yes, it did seem just a little unbelievable.

Natsu met their incredulous looks with a challenging glare. "How do you know for sure that it's him?"

A different man from the first speaker held up his cupped hands to show them the yellow magic circle hovering above the object cradled in his palms, enjoying the apparent superiority of their knowledge. The magic circle had an arrow worked into its intricate design which swung with the movement so that the point remained fixed towards the crystal like the needle of a compass.

"This artifact was created by Zeref," he told them. "It's a simple matter for me to use it to locate its creator."

At this announcement, the guild wizards dropped their gazes from the magic circle to the object beneath it. The light of the tracking spell illuminated a maroon-colored cube with simple carvings on each of its faces. The carvings depicted, for the most part, flowers of a number of different varieties and a single, rather fluffy-looking squirrel.

They stared.

And then Natsu started to laugh. He laughed so hard that everyone else in the room started to wonder if he'd gone a little crazy. Then, without warning, he attacked.

Natsu dropped the man holding the maroon cube with a forceful punch to the gut then swung around and lashed out with his foot, sending another wizard sprawling before they had fully registered the fact that he had moved. There was instant chaos as the dark wizards swore and scrambled for spells to retaliate. Gray and Lucy froze for only a second before launching themselves forward into the fray. The enclosed space made the ruckus even noisier than it would have been outdoors, and flashes of spell light lit the cavern like lightning in the midst of a thunderstorm.

The Dragon Slayer and his friends had the advantage of surprise, and it helped that they had more space to maneuver with most of the cavern at their disposal rather than the cramped tunnel. It didn't take much to force the dark wizards back along one of the passageways, and then Gray sealed off the cavern entrance with ice. The dark wizards didn't quite dare mess with the tunnel walls in case they brought the entire ceiling down around their ears, but that didn't stop them from attacking the ice with vigor. The Ice Wizard had to keep rebuilding the wall as layers of it were shattered or dissolved.

"We need another plan here," Gray said through gritted teeth, freezing air wafting about him as he added another sheet of ice to the barrier. For a brief moment, they could see one of the dark wizard's faces snarling through the frozen curtain before the new ice blurred it once more.

All of a sudden, the attacks on the other side of the barrier stopped. The guild wizards held still, listening. If they squinted, they could make out the shadowy forms of their opponents huddled together on the other side of the ice, apparently deep in discussion. One of them had his head cocked to one side where he stood a little apart from the group as though listening hard to something. From here, it was hard to tell if he had some kind of communication device or if he was listening to a telepathic message, but after several seconds, he waved for his colleagues to follow him back along the tunnel—away from the barricade.

Before leaving, one of the men turned and shouted through the ice, "Better enjoy this respite for as long as you can. You haven't won yet. This fight is only just beginning."

The guild wizards didn't respond. Instead, they waited tensely for their opponents to double back or attempt an approach from a different passageway. When several long, excruciating minutes had ticked by with no further disturbances, they finally decided that the dark wizards really had chosen to retreat for the day. Gray let his hands drop back to his sides. He and Lucy relaxed and turned to find Natsu holding the maroon cube up to the light.

"Is _that_ what you attacked them for?" Lucy asked, flabbergasted. "It would have been nice to have some warning."

"It's mine," Natsu said with a shrug. "They had no right to keep it."

"How can it possibly be yours?" she asked, puzzled.

"That artifact that Clarice said she had for me, this fits the description she gave me."

"Oh."

Natsu's friends considered this. It had already been a crazy few days. They had no reason not to believe him. It would have been difficult for the situation to get much weirder anyway.

"So," Gray said, "what is it?"

Natsu weighed the cube in his hand and grinned. "A clue. The moon's supposed to be full tonight, right?"

.

Natsu placed the maroon cube on the small, flat patch at the top of the crystal pyramid. Then, refusing to speak another word of explanation, he sat down with his back against the cavern wall to wait. Exasperated, the other two wizards circled the crystal a few more times, trying and failing to see any connections between it and the cube, before finally giving up. Lucy summoned one of her spirits to bring word to Erza, and she and Gray found their own spots on the dusty, debris-strewn floor to settle down.

"He looks peaceful," Lucy commented, studying the sleeping wizard's face through the crystal—or what she could see of it. The angle wasn't ideal for a clear profile. "Do you think we should really be trying to move him at all?"

Gray shrugged. "We don't really have a choice."

He had to admit that she was right though. The boy in the crystal did look peaceful. It was almost creepy. "Peaceful" wasn't really something he would have expected of someone trapped in a crystal prison underground on a deserted island out in the middle of nowhere.

They glanced towards Natsu, but the Dragon Slayer didn't seem to be paying attention to them. His gaze appeared oddly pensive and far away, and they were startled to find that the expression on his face seemed almost... sad.

None of them spoke again after that, and the trio waited in a slightly awkward silence as the light from the ceiling bled from golden yellow to dusky blue. It would have been beautiful if it hadn't also been so eerie at the same time. Gray and Lucy were just starting to wonder where that spirit had gotten to and whether Erza might need help after all when the light in the chamber began to acquire a hint of silver, and suddenly, the air in the chamber shifted.

They watched transfixed as the color faded from the maroon cube. It became white and then semitransparent, like a sculpture of frosted glass. Then it melted as though it was an ice cube on a hot day, and the entire crystal prison beneath it followed, the hard edges and surfaces beginning to melt and run—and finally dissolving away like liquid light.

Without the crystal to support him, the sleeping wizard ended up curled loosely on his side on the floor. They could finally see the gentle rise and fall of his chest that indicated that he was, indeed, breathing. They gathered around the prone figure, waiting for the last droplets of crystal to dissipate. When it had and a whole minute passed without any further changes, they let out a collective breath that they hadn't realized they'd been holding.

Gray glanced from the alleged Black Wizard to Natsu and then back again. There was so much going on here that they didn't know, but right here and now didn't seem like the best place to try for answers. Instead, he sighed, bent, and reached to sling the unconscious boy over his shoulder.

"I guess we should take him back to the guild and talk to the guild master. This seems—"

The Ice Wizard's voice cut off a second later as he snatched his hand back with a cry of pain and a curse. He rounded on Natsu and demanded, "What was that for?"

The Dragon Slayer glared at him, the pupils of his eyes ringed with red. "Don't. Touch. Him."

Gray took a startled step back. The venomous expression on the Dragon Slayer's face made the hairs prickle on the back of his neck.

"Uh, okay..."

Natsu scowled at him for a moment longer then crouched next to the sleeping wizard and scooped him up into his arms, cradling him carefully against his chest. Despite his earlier display of hostility, all of this was done with surprising gentleness.

"Natsu," Lucy ventured cautiously. "How did you know that would work?"

Natsu gave a small shrug, closing his eyes for a moment and inhaling his partner's familiar scent. Of course he knew. After all, Zeref had left the artifact for _him_. To most other people, it would have seemed silly, but Natsu recognized its references to the memories that they shared—memories of an unearthly garden that bloomed for only one minute at midnight under the light of a full moon. He kind of wanted to check Zeref over more carefully for any damage or changes, but his friends would probably think he was being creepily inappropriate. It was just that... while his memories of the end of their journey were fragmented and confused, he had a clear image of Zeref with blood seeping through a gash across his ribs looking up at him with desperate, sad, and searching eyes. Natsu didn't like to think that that was a memory too, but he was certain that it _was_.

Memories. Maybe that was where Natsu should start looking for clues on how to wake him as well. He had hoped that Zeref would wake up when the crystal was gone, but obviously, that hadn't happened.

"I'll explain when we're back on the ship," he said, turning towards the ragged doorway. "Come on, let's get out of here."

* * *

 **TBC...**

* * *

 **AN:** Ah, they're finally in the same place again! It was really hard not to rush the story in these last few chapters, since I wanted Natsu and Zeref to be back together as soon as possible. I'm glad it sounds like the pacing went okay.

 **.**


	42. A 300-Year-Old Story

**Disclaimer** : I do not own Fairy Tail.

 **Pairing(s)** : Natsu Dragneal x Zeref, mentions of Jellal x Erza

 **WARNINGS: violence, alternative history,** **shounan ai (boy/boy pairing); you have been warned so don't like, don't read**

* * *

 **The Will to Live**

 **By V. Shalyr**

* * *

 **7\. A 300-Year-Old Story**

Erza met them at the cave mouth by the spring, leaning against the cliff face with the tip of her sword resting against the grass. Her normally smooth cascade of red hair was a mess with stray strands sticking to her forehead and the sides of her sweat-streaked face, and they could see a number of cuts and bruises. Overall though, the armor-clad wizard just looked drained and ready for a break, even though she'd never say so.

Her gaze landed on the bundle in Natsu's arms, and she asked, "Is that him?"

"We think so," Gray said.

At the same time, Natsu said, "It is."

Erza only nodded and turned to lead the way back through the woods.

"Right then, mission accomplished. Most of the intruders left about an hour ago. It seemed like someone was calling them away, but I couldn't figure out why. We should leave before they decide to come back." She frowned, scanning the dense vegetation around them as they walked. "Most of them were nothing special as far as wizards go, but they had a respectable number of good fighters among them, and at least a handful of real killers. There was also something... _off_ about some of them."

"Off?" Gray repeated. "What do you mean by off?"

"It's difficult to describe." Erza pursed her lips and narrowed her eyes, thinking back. "Some of them were almost... fanatical, but calm and steely at the same time. Not you're everyday fanatic."

"Everyday fanatic," Lucy said with a shake of her head. "That just sounds wrong."

"The group we met seemed pretty normal," Natsu said.

Erza shrugged. "Like I said, it was only some of them. I've never fought such a diverse and incredibly different group of people."

She paused and lifted her sword when something moved in the underbrush, only continuing on when she'd confirmed that it was nothing more malevolent than a squirrel.

"So," she inclined her head towards the new addition to their group, "is he unconscious?"

"Asleep," Natsu clarified. "We found him this way."

"Magic?"

"Probably."

"Any idea if he's going to wake up?"

"I don't know," Natsu admitted with more than a hint of reluctance. "I think it's a different spell from the one we broke to get him out of the crystal."

Erza turned this information over in her head. "Maybe that's a good thing. If he really is Zeref, I'm not sure it's a good idea to wake him."

"I'm not going to leave him like this," Natsu snapped. "I don't care if people object. I'm going to wake him up."

"How? He has to have been this way for quite some time, judging from what Master Makarov was told when he accepted leadership of the guild. Possibly even centuries."

The Dragon Slayer tightened his hold on the boy in his arms and scowled. "I'll find a way."

"From the way you're acting, you'd think you knew the guy," Gray said dryly.

Natsu's reply was short and to the point. "That's because I did."

There was a long silence broken only by their muffled footsteps upon the thick moss and fallen leaves layered up from years of past autumns. Then Erza said carefully, "A friend?"

"Yeah, sort of."

"More than a friend?"

This time, Natsu didn't answer, but the lack of any denial and his obvious reluctance to let anyone near the wizard in question were answers enough.

Back on the _Sparrow_ , the Dragon Slayer sat down against the wall of the ship's one-room cabin and arranged the sleeping dark wizard so that the boy's head was resting against his shoulder. That done, he lifted his gaze to the three people watching this process and waiting—with varying degrees of patience—for an explanation that they could understand. Natsu inspected their faces, one reserved and two troubled, debating what to tell them. Probably the truth. There wasn't any reason to lie, not now that he was clear on his own past and had Zeref safely back in his arms. They didn't need to know everything—that was an impossible request anyway. But he did owe the members of his team at least the basic outlines.

"It started on that job we had when we went to see that fortuneteller," he said finally. "You see, turns out I'm not a Dragon Slayer after all, although it's probably easier if we just keep on saying that I am..."

.

The gossamer-thin sails of the ship hung slack upon the mast despite the faint, warm breeze. They were there only for show anyway and would billow artistically in the wind without truly catching it. The ship drifted lazily in the air above the island like a boat moored in peaceful water.

A flying ship over an uninhabited island surrounded by miles of ocean, the water black in the moonlight... A perfect setting for listening to a fantastical story about a time so long ago that most people could only imagine it.

"That's a lot to take in," Erza said. Sometime during the account, she'd settled herself cross-legged on the deck with her back against the railing. "But I believe you. It would certainly explain a few things."

Like how he knew so much about the sleeping wizard that he seemed so unwilling to let go of, and how Clarice Ghalice had had a package for him with a delivery request that dated back generations. It also explained what had seemed different about the Dragon Slayer's eyes lately. They hadn't just become more focused. They were older, the eyes of someone who had seen a lot more than a handful of years.

"It sounds like he was nothing like the rumors I've heard would have led me to believe."

The corner of Natsu's mouth quirked in a mirthless smile. "You shouldn't believe everything you hear."

"But if a bunch of you jumped forward in time to start new lives, why didn't he," Gray inclined his head towards Zeref, "just come with you?"

"I don't know. That part's still hazy." Natsu frowned, concentrating. "The last thing I remember clearly was the knights catching up with us and then me getting into a fight with two Dragon Slayers."

Which meant that they would have to ask Zeref for answers, because Igneal wasn't talking.

Of course, right at this moment, neither was Zeref.

"So then," Erza said when the quiet began to feel uncomfortable, "do you have any idea how he expected you to wake him up? It couldn't have been something too complicated, or he would have left you more clues. Besides, I highly doubt he would have wanted you to go searching all over the kingdom for hints while looking after his unconscious body."

It would have been incredibly impractical, and from what she'd seen and heard, the rumors had gotten at least one thing right. Zeref was every bit as clever a wizard as the legends said. Funny though. He looked so... unremarkable. And so _young_.

Lucy spoke up. "Maybe you should try kissing him."

Gray sniggered. "Don't tell me, like that story with the sleeping princess waiting for a kiss from her true love to wake her up?"

"What?" Lucy crossed her arms defensively. "It all sounds a little like a fairytale, doesn't it? Two people both trying to break a curse traveling together and falling in love, and then getting separated only to find each other again? Isn't it worth a try?"

Natsu snorted. Weirdly enough, that suggestion _did_ have ties to moments that he and Zeref had shared—reading that book of human fairytales. But he seriously doubted Zeref would have set up a spell that way. It wasn't his style. He was much too practical to have designed a spell meant to be broken in such a whimsical manner. It would be something logical and carefully planned.

"What about the things yu guys learned about curse breaking?" Gray suggested. "I mean, when you think of someone sleeping for a couple hundred years, it does kind of make you think "curse", doesn't it? Even if it does look like he did it to himself."

Natsu looked pensively down at his partner. Something simple. That did make sense. Back in that underground room, the mechanism had actually been very simple too.

"Well, you've got time to think about it," Erza said, rising to her feet and stretching. Her joints creaked in protest and she winced. "Listen, if you want some time to work on this, we can take a long way back to the guild. The shipwright said we shouldn't sail this ship at full speed all the time anyway. She needs time to rest too."

Natsu nodded and stood as well. "I'm going to try something. It's probably best if I take him into the cabin and you three just keep your distance from it for now. If it works and he wakes up, there's always a chance that his curse will get triggered, and I don't want you accidentally getting killed."

His teammates nodded and watched him disappear into the ship's cabin carrying the sleeping wizard. That was such a... weird concern, but then that was magic for you.

After the door closed, the three people still out on deck exchanged uncertain glances then, as one, moved to stand near the prow. They had a lot to think about, and it was probably a good idea to check in with Jellal as well, It was strange how easily the dark wizards had given up, considering they had gone through all that trouble to get this far. Getting some sleep would be smart too. They could take turns keeping watch.

.

The cottage stood just outside of town on the bank of the small but deep lake. It was an old building—so old, in fact, that none of the townsfolk could remember a time when it hadn't stood there, plain and nondescript but well kept. Its small, fenced yard was always tidy and free of weeds, and on most nights, lights could be seen behind its shuttered windows.

The people in town whispered that the inhabitants of the cottage were "a little strange" if not unpleasant. The family had an odd history, they said, and had moved to the area after some sort of squabble with the Magic Council ages ago. They couldn't be dark wizards because they would have been arrested years ago if that were the case, but anyone who argued badly enough with the Council and their knights to be forced to move to such a remote location probably wasn't someone you wanted to socialize with.

Even the townspeople had to admit that their modest little settlement had little to offer that would make anyone want to move here who didn't have some ulterior motive to do so. The earth here wasn't fertile enough to support much agriculture, but the inhabitants had managed to build a living through exporting wood and wicker furniture and—more recently—bottled mineral water from a spring further up the mountain.

Really, it was the last place anyone would look for the headquarters of one of the kingdom's largest dark wizard networks. Of course, its members had only recently become as numerous as they were, so perhaps that was no surprise. And a great many of the wizards involved did not think of themselves as dark wizards at all but as reformers.

Berius Senza stomped down the stairs into the cottage's disproportionately large and spacious basement. White mage lights glowed in the room's four corners, affording a cold but clear illumination.

"Why did you intervene?" he demanded, the words lashing out at the man hunched over the worktable against the far wall. "You were the one who wanted us to go to that damned island in the first place!"

The man at the table took his time answering, holding a glass flask up to the light and turning it carefully so he could examine it from all directions. "I didn't realize I was interrupting anything. It was simply no longer necessary. And don't lay all the blame on me. I saw your eyes when I told you I knew how we could find the Black Wizard. He was there, wasn't he?"

"He was," Berius admitted grudgingly. "But he was sealed in a crystal. We didn't have a chance to see if we could get to him. There were guild wizards there."

The man didn't seem perturbed by this news. "No matter. We don't need his help anymore."

Berius folded his arms across his chest, his thin, blond eyebrows drawing together. "You found a way to get into the library?"

"No, but we found a different wizard who can replicate potions on a large scale with just one spell. He was wasting his talents as a wine salesman."

"What, by turning water into wine?" Berius asked sarcastically.

To his surprise, the other man didn't laugh.

"Yes, as a matter of fact. Very lucrative business, you know."

A measure of Berius's annoyance ebbed away, replaced by curiosity. "So what does that mean for us?"

"It means," the other man said, turning to show him the contents of the flask, the clear liquid catching and seeming to hold on to the light so that its soft glow lit the man's thin, chestnut beard, "that we have everything we need to set our plans into motion. Gather everyone with the right skills to help with distribution."

* * *

 **TBC...**

* * *

 **.**


	43. To Wake a Heart

**Disclaimer** : I do not own Fairy Tail.

 **Pairing(s)** : Natsu Dragneal x Zeref, mentions of Jellal x Erza

 **WARNINGS: violence, alternative history,** **shounan ai (boy/boy pairing); you have been warned so don't like, don't read**

* * *

 **The Will to Live**

 **By V. Shalyr**

* * *

 **8\. To Wake a Heart**

Huh.

Erza shut the compact mirror with a frown. This was the third time she'd tried to call Jellal in the last half hour, but there was still no response. She knew she didn't have to worry about him, but... she was still worried.

"Still nothing?" Lucy asked, coming to stand beside her and resting her elbows on the railing.

"It's not like him," Erza said, slipping the communication device back into her pocket. "I have the bad feeling that what just happened on the island was only the beginning. I wish we knew what those dark wizards' objectives were. It doesn't seem to have been as simple as getting their hands on a legendary wizard."

"I know." Lucy shook her head, locks of blond hair brushing against her cheeks. "They left way too easily."

"You thought so too?"

"Well, it's always possible that I was imagining things. Joining Fairy Tail has made me sort of paranoid."

Erza laughed. "At least it's never boring."

"You know, maybe sometimes, boring is good." Lucy made a face. "I can't believe I just said that. But you know, it's nice sometimes not to have to worry about breaking an arm or losing your life."

"Hmmm." Erza tapped her fingertips lightly on the railing, her expression growing thoughtful. "I have noticed a lot more Dark Guild related job requests lately. You know, if you want us to take some different assignments, all you have to do is ask."

"I know. But like you said, there have been a lot of those requests lately on the job boards. With some of them, it just doesn't feel right to ignore them. And our team _does_ have a lot of firepower."

The two women fell silent, looking down at the ocean passing below them. At night, all that fathomless, black water felt almost eerie. In the distance, the shore was a ridge of black shadow against the faint gleam of moonlight on the waves.

"You should try to sleep," Erza said finally. "If we're right, we're going to need our strength. I'll wake you for your watch in an hour or so."

In the meantime, she'd try Jellal again. Hopefully, this time, he would answer.

.

The ship's small, one-room cabin had no furniture in it. They hadn't had the time to purchase any. Still, the shipyard had been more than happy to provide them with a heap of old but clean blankets and a handful of large, square cushions. Natsu nudged one of the cushions out towards the center of the floor and set his partner down with his head resting upon it.

He didn't bother to try and figure out how to turn on the lights fixed to the ceiling. The moonlight filtering through the cabin's two large windows was more than enough for him to see by.

Funny really. Lucy was right. Zeref looked peaceful—felt peaceful too, from what Natsu could sense from him. There was no trace of the lingering sadness there almost always used to be about his features when he slept.

Had Natsu done that?

" _You'll never feel alone_ ," Natsu had told him back then. " _We'll always be able to find each other again, no matter how far apart we are_."

Sitting here with him now, Natsu was certain that his partner had taken those words to heart. It was nice to know that what little time they had had together had made such a big impact. Really, it was kind of amazing how one chance encounter between two people could affect both of them so much.

"Look at me, getting all philosophical," Natsu said with a snort, reaching out to run his fingers through his partner's soft, dark hair. "Well, better give this a try. Don't want you to be comatose when trouble shows up."

Which Natsu had no doubt that it would. He had good instincts for these things, and they were telling him that something major was on its way.

Right. Okay, so curse breaking. The only thing they'd really learned was how to utilize the special properties of Natsu's magic to their fullest. Different types of magic had different properties, and of course, every wizard's magic would also carry a slightly different signature. Like fingerprints, even two wizards using the same branch of magic would have spells that felt unique simply because of who cast them. That was how those dark wizards had managed to track Zeref down. It would probably also be the easiest way to make sure that Natsu was the only one who could actually break a spell that Zeref didn't want anyone else to break.

Natsu took a deep breath then let it out slowly and closed his eyes. He'd never been especially great at feeling out and assessing other people's spells. Generally, he just threw plenty of power at whatever obstacle was in his way until it broke. But this wasn't a battle, and this was somebody he didn't want to injure. At the same time, watching Zeref work during their travels had taught him a lot indirectly, and like the dark wizard had told him, the kind of fine-grained control that meditating helped develop was useful for any wizard. As Natsu very, very carefully let his magic wash over the both of them, just calling up the energy without letting it become any particular spell, he felt a shift in the air like the world letting out a long-held breath.

.

He was dreaming of summer—of lying under a tree on a riverbank and watching a red dragon soar through the sky overhead—when he felt himself waking. The vivid, afternoon landscape faded away as his consciousness surfaced, and he let it go with just a touch of wistfulness. Dreaming had been nice, but he hadn't forgotten that he hadn't intended it to last forever.

Someone was waiting for him. Someone that he had been waiting for—for a very long time.

Zeref stirred. He seemed to be lying on a hardwood floor with a pillow under his head, and someone was running his fingers through his hair. Slowly, dark eyes blinked open, squinting a little in the semidarkness. When they focused on Natsu's face, they filled with relief and warmth.

"Natsu."

The dragon wizard grinned. "Guess I don't have to ask if you missed me."

He fell silent, and for a long moment, the two of them simply looked at one another, unsure what to say—where to start—or even exactly how they were feeling. The emotions between them were almost overwhelming, all mixed up with fragments of memory and an intense sense of lost time, of interrupted dreams and things they hadn't had time to say before they'd been so abruptly separated.

Finally, Natsu settled for a topic upon which they were both on steady ground.

"Sleep well?"

"Well enough. I hope getting to me wasn't too much trouble," Zeref said. "I tried to keep it simple."

Natsu's expression grew rueful. "I wouldn't say it was any trouble, but you've got a lot of explaining to do. How did a Rune Knight of all people end up with something you made for me? She said it'd been in her family for generations along with instructions to pass it on to a Fire Dragon Slayer."

Zeref took a moment to organize his memories before summarizing the events that had brought him at last to an island in the middle of the sea. As he talked, the unspoken tension in the cabin eased. They'd been separated for what felt like forever, but they could tell almost right away that their time apart had altered them very little. Any awkwardness was easily chased away, replaced by glad curiosity.

"You left a clue for me with a _captain_ of the Rune Knights?" Natsu asked, incredulous. "And he actually agreed to hold onto it for you? Then you went and asked a bunch of other wizards to help hide your body? That doesn't sound very like you."

Zeref looked amused. His partner was right of course, but, "After all that time I spent with you, it occurred to me that maybe it was time I tried to trust people again—selectively, of course."

"Why the hell didn't you just come with us?"

"Someone had to stay behind to destroy the gate. One of the dragons could have done it, but that would have defeated the point. And besides, we were expecting Dragon Slayers."

The grin faded from Natsu's face, and he moved a hand to rest just above his partner's stomach where he remembered seeing blood. "That last battle and everything after that... It's all still kind of blurred. I think... I might have hurt you, and I'm sorry."

"It wasn't serious. And it was just as much my fault—from how your father explained it to me. Possibly even more my fault than yours really."

Natsu blinked then scowled. "You spoke to my dad? Guess that's something else he neglected to tell me. What did he say?"

Zeref shrugged a little. "A lot of things. I think he thought you should have waited until you were older to establish this link we have. He said that it made young dragons more prone to blind rage, and that my tainted magic made it worse."

The wild-haired wizard frowned uneasily, unsure if he really wanted to know more after all. But if he didn't find out now, he'd spend the rest of his life wondering.

"So then... those knights, and the two Dragon Slayers?"

Zeref's gaze slid away from his, which gave Natsu all the answers he needed even before he spoke.

"Most of them were killed on the mountainside."

In the ensuing silence, the shadows around them seemed to grow more dark. Zeref lifted a hand to cover the one still on his chest.

"It was a long time ago. We couldn't have known it would happen, and your father didn't blame you. I don't either. It would be incredibly hypocritical of me."

Natsu sighed. Maybe it was just as well that he didn't remember that battle. The bits he did remember were more like a slaughter than a battle. No wonder his father had thought that jumping forward a couple centuries would be a wise decision.

"So what else did Dad tell you?"

"He said that I was young."

The corner of Natsu's mouth quirked upward at that. "Well, you certainly look it, although I'm guessing that's not what he meant."

"No." Zeref shook his head, the fabric of the cushion crinkling under him. "He said that I was young because I hadn't really allowed myself to live. I think he was trying to encourage me. I suppose he could tell that I was upset. He said..."

Zeref hesitated.

Natsu raised his eyebrows. "Yeah?"

The boy seemed almost embarrassed.

"He said... that I shouldn't allow myself to despair so easily, because you loved me and wouldn't allow my life to be unhappy."

Natsu wasn't sure what to say to that. It was true and he would have said the same thing to Zeref if he'd been in his right mind at the time. It felt strange to think that his father had said the words for him. Perhaps they were more similar than he'd realized, and by the sound of it, he really had no reason to stay angry at the older dragon. If Natsu had been faced with those same options back then, perhaps he would have made the same choices after all.

Zeref rolled onto his side and sat up gingerly with Natsu's assistance. After dreaming for so long, the world felt startlingly solid and real. He glanced around at the room, mostly bare of furnishings, and the large windows through which he could see a clear, night sky moving past.

"So where are we? And what is happening?"

.

Jellal peered around the corner and held his breath as several knights moved past his hiding place, their heavy boots thumping upon the marble floor. He shouldn't have had to hide at all. He was a Magic Council member and had the right to be here. But after those knights had attacked him out of the blue while he'd been searching through the record vaults, he didn't know what to expect.

What was going on here? He'd been trying to learn more about the artifacts that had been stolen during that recent break-in. Could some of the knights have actually been involved in that?

He could only assume that dark wizards had infiltrated the ranks of the Rune Knights somehow, but that assumption didn't feel quite right. He'd known some of those men personally, and he was positive that they weren't traitors.

Jellal winced, tightening his hold on the cloth he'd hastily wrapped around the cut down the left side of his ribcage. His fingers were growing wet with his own blood. He had to get somewhere safe so he could attend to the wound properly and figure out what to do next. He hoped he hadn't hurt those knights back there too badly. He probably had an hour at most before someone found his unconscious attackers and reported the incident.

Right. First thing was first. He had to get out of the council building with himself and the files he had taken from the vaults intact.

.

As Erza moved to turn away from the railing and towards the bedrolls they'd laid out on deck, a glimmer of light in the distance stopped her. Strange. Had the lights from the settlements been this bright at night before?

Erza stepped back towards the railing, but before she could get a better look, a soft beeping from her pocket interrupted her. In an instant, she had the mirror in her hands.

"Jellal! About time. I've been trying to reach you all night." Noting the pallor of his face, she added, "What happened? Is something wrong?"

"It'll be easier to talk in person," the blue-haired wizard said, glancing to the side as though checking for eavesdroppers. "Where are you now?"

"We just left the island and are on our way back to the guild," she said. "It may be some time before we reach it though, and we have the Black Wizard Zeref with us."

Jellal jerked his head up. "You what? Are you certain?"

"As certain as I can be. Natsu's looking after him."

"Natsu?"

"That's hard to explain right now. We found him on Tenrou Island. It turns out he's been there all this time."

Jellal chewed at his lower lip, his brow furrowing. "Are all of you okay?"

"More okay than you are by the looks of you," Erza said dryly. "Where are you? Maybe we could pick you up on the way."

"I'd appreciate it."

Erza listened to his description of his location, but half of her was distracted. That smell. Was it smoke?

"Wait a second," she said, lowering the mirror and peering towards the shadowy landscape far below. The lights she'd seen before were much closer now, and the hairs prickled on the back of her neck. On the ground, there were flames moving back and forth—torches, she realized—and a town was on fire.

* * *

 **TBC...**

* * *

 **.**


	44. The White Key

**Disclaimer** : I do not own Fairy Tail.

 **Pairing(s)** : Natsu Dragneal x Zeref, mentions of Jellal x Erza

 **WARNINGS: violence, alternative history,** **shounan ai (boy/boy pairing); you have been warned so don't like, don't read**

* * *

 **The Will to Live**

 **By V. Shalyr**

* * *

 **9\. The White Key**

Zeref would have liked more time to catch up. He would have preferred not to immediately be faced with the prospect of meeting and working with a bunch of strangers. He would have preferred to not wake up in the midst of a conflict, but he'd sort of expected that last one. He had no confidence in the ability of humanity to maintain peace. Maybe eventually, but certainly not in a measly few centuries.

He looked past Natsu at the closed door of the ship's cabin, and the trepidation must have shown on his face because Natsu took his hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze.

"They're good people," the dragon said. "I've been working with them for awhile now. Besides, I've already told them a bit about you and about us, so it's not like it'll be a total shock to them."

"You told them?"

Natsu quirked an eyebrow. "I kind of had to. How else was I going to explain why I wanted to take an infamous dark wizard home with me?"

"Am I still that well known?" Zeref asked, dismayed. Of course, he hadn't expected people to forget about him entirely—he just wasn't that lucky. But he'd hoped that a couple hundred years would have at least dulled their interest.

"Yeah, sorry."

Zeref sighed. "No, I should have expected it. I suppose I'd better go meet them before I convince myself that I'd rather hide in here for the rest of the flight."

Natsu grinned and helped him to his feet. Zeref grimaced at the stiffness in his muscles and joints, and they walked a few slow circles around the room to help him adjust. When they passed one of the windows, Zeref paused, arrested by the view of moon-brushed clouds so close that it almost seemed like he could reach out and touch them.

"It's even cooler from out on deck," Natsu said, following the direction of his gaze. "Possibly not as cool as when I'm flying myself, but still incredible."

Zeref glanced at him, searching his face. "Have you tried to transform back?"

Natsu looked away. "I want to, but I'm... a little afraid what might happen."

Zeref nodded. It was extremely unlike Natsu to be afraid of _anything_ , but then it was one thing to be faced with challenges from other people. It was something else entirely to be faced with your own shadows. Zeref knew better than anyone, however, that you couldn't run away from yourself—not for very long anyway, and certainly not very far. It was important to know where you stood with things so that you could decide how to move forward.

"When we have time, we can find somewhere isolated for you to try," he said. "I'm sure it will be fine."

He had faith. Which, of course, really meant that he ought to have faith right now too—that Natsu would make sure that Zeref walking through that door and into the world again wouldn't be a stressful disaster.

"I think I'm ready," he said, offering Natsu a small smile.

All the same, that didn't stop him from hesitating in the doorway once the door was open until he felt Natsu's hand at the small of his back. Right. One step at a time.

.

The three wizards out on deck experienced a split second of startled unease when two figures emerged from the ship's cabin instead of one. So Natsu had managed it after all. Still, the dark-haired stranger regarded them with such anxious wariness that it was difficult to feel particularly threatened by his presence. If anything, Zeref looked like he was seriously considering the merits of turning around and going right back into the cabin to avoid them.

Natsu introduced them, pointing to each of the members of his team and identifying what kind of magic they used. Then he slung an arm around Zeref's shoulders and introduced him as well, adding with pride that when it came to magic, his partner had no particular preference and was good at almost everything.

"So," Natsu finished, "what's going on? I smell smoke."

Taking this as a cue to change the subject, Erza made a sweeping gesture with her arm. "People are fighting down there. Several of the buildings have been set on fire."

Zeref moved to peer over the railing towards the wavering, orange lights, glad that none of them were making a big deal of his arrival. Perhaps that was the silver lining of waking up during a crisis.

"Any idea who's fighting who?" Natsu asked from beside him.

Gray answered. "As far as we can tell, it just looks like regular townspeople and maybe some wizards. It's hard to be sure from up here. I think there might have been a wizard guild in that town, but again, I'm not sure."

There was a pause, and then Zeref asked, his voice hesitant and quiet, "Should we go down?"

"I don't think that's a good idea," Lucy said slowly, pointing. "Look."

It wasn't just the town below them. Other fires were springing up all along the coastline and further inland. The ring of weapons and people shouting drifted up to them on the breeze, full of anger, confusion, and fear. Natsu could smell blood now too, a sharp and coppery undertone to the acrid stench of burning things.

Erza broke the uncomfortable silence that had settled aboard the ship. "I think we should prioritize picking up Jellal before we try to do anything. He might know more about what's happening. I've already given the ship his coordinates. I'm going to see if we can speed her up."

Besides, she was worried, because when they had spoken just minutes ago, the blue-haired Magic Council representative hadn't looked well at all.

.

A blast of fire set a swath of tall grass ablaze, and Jellal suppressed a curse, veering away from the scorching heat. Fire Wizards. Of course. If you wanted to get rid of paper documents, who better to send than Fire Wizards?

Jellal dodged a fireball, turned momentarily to throw a shower of golden missiles at his attackers, and then raced on. The fact that he was being followed meant that what he had really _was_ important. He couldn't waste time here fighting, and anyway, he didn't want to hurt these people. It wasn't their fault that they were chasing him. He didn't think they really knew what they were doing, and even if they did... well, they weren't acting at all like themselves.

After sneaking out of the large building where the Magic Council kept most of its records and where the Rune Knights had one of their main headquarters, Jellal had stopped in the nearby town to get medical attention for his wounds. He'd left as soon as he was certain that none of the cuts were in danger of becoming infected, and not a moment too soon. The Fire Wizards had caught up with him just after he crossed the town's boundaries, and now he was zigzagging through a field of burning grass towards one of the less-used dirt roads leading out of the settlement. Originally, he'd been heading for the woods where there was more cover, but the last thing he needed was to get trapped in a forest fire.

"Why are you doing this?" he called back at his pursuers.

It was worth asking even if he didn't think he would get any answers—which he didn't. He counted one, two—four of them. He hadn't known that there were even _that_ many fire specialists among the knights. Fire was a destructive element and often did more harm than good, even when wielded by a skilled wizard, and it was a huge problem that even skilled Fire Wizards usually couldn't extinguish the fires that they started. For those reasons, it was a branch of magic more popular among dark wizards than responsible, law-abiding ones.

Jellal cringed to imagine what this stretch of countryside was going to look like tomorrow morning. They were just lucky that there wasn't much wind tonight. More wind, and this entire region could be reduced to ashes.

Where were—?

"Jellal!"

Relief swept through him, and Jellal looked up—only to throw himself to the ground a second later to avoid a fireball, which narrowly missed setting his hair on fire. The stench of burning grass and smoke filled his nose. He swiped impatiently at his watering eyes and looked up, grabbing for the rope ladder that unrolled from the sky above his head. Jellal pushed himself off the ground and scrambled up the ladder as, behind him, a rain of sword blades forced his pursuers to pull back.

"Damn, this whole area's a mess," he heard Natsu comment from above.

A voice he didn't recognize replied, "Natsu, I don't think this ship's anti-fire spells are going to hold out for very long."

"Can you reinforce them or something?"

"Maybe, but I don't want to be hasty about it. A lot of the ship's spells are embedded in the timbres and woven together. I wouldn't want to accidentally mess with whatever allows this ship to fly."

"Good point. Hey, Jellal, you'd better hurry up!"

"I'm trying," the wizard muttered. The ship lurched forward and upward, the rope ladder swung and flapped wildly, and he clung to it with a white-knuckled grip. The world tipped crazily in his vision and he shut his eyes, forcing himself to concentrate only on the feel of the rope under his hands and feet.

"Oh no," Lucy's worried voice reached him over the explosions from below. "I think one of them hit the ladder. Is it okay?"

"It looks..." Gray paused. "Uh, Jellal, you could fly, right?"

Under his closed eyelids, Jellal rolled his eyes. Yes, he could, but he was exhausted, his side felt like someone was driving a knife into it, and all the blinding flames and the darkness and the fighting had left him mildly disoriented. Maybe Erza was right and he hadn't been taking good enough care of himself. He wasn't out of shape or anything, but he was undeniably overworked.

When he felt the hard, wooden railing against his fingers, he opened his eyes and found Erza giving him an amused look. She helped him over and onto the deck, then she cut the ropes and let the smoldering remains of the ladder drop away.

"Are you okay?" she asked, returning to where he'd sat down to rest.

"I will be once I have a moment to catch my breath," he said. "Thanks for coming to get me. I have had one crazy night."

"Crazier than ours?" Erza asked, inclining her head ever so slightly towards a dark-haired boy in a gray cloak that Jellal hadn't noticed before. The boy seemed to be mumbling either to himself or to Natsu as he walked along the sides of the ship. The Dragon Slayer hovered rather protectively next to him, occasionally saying something in return.

It took Jellal a moment to piece everything together and realize who he was looking at.

"Possibly not crazier than yours," he conceded, shaking his head. "You're going to have to give me the details later. Right now, I'm afraid that I'm badly in need of a drink."

His stomach growled.

"And something to eat."

.

The last time Lucy remembered a meal being this quiet, she'd been at home and she'd just announced to her father that she intended to pursue a career as a wizard. That stony silence had persisted for almost an entire week of family dinners.

The silence that currently pervaded the deck of the _Sparrow_ wasn't nearly that tense. No one was angry at anyone else, and the air wasn't thick with scathing remarks barely held back. All the same, it was still less than comfortable in the way that silence among a group of people became uncomfortable when no one was quite sure what to say. The provisions they'd taken from the storage room below decks could only occupy the space of conversation for so long.

Zeref hesitated suddenly with a bottle of water halfway to his lips and glanced towards the horizon, a tiny frown making its way onto his face.

He turned his head and murmured to Natsu, "Something's happening. Magic. Something big."

"Any idea what?"

Zeref shook his head, paused, then shifted his gaze. "There it is again. It feels like someone casting the same spell over and over."

This declaration felt strangely ominous.

Gray was the one who finally said what was on all of their minds. "I wonder if that has anything to do with the chaos down there."

All eyes turned to Jellal, who sat back against the railing and sighed. Where to begin?

"I can't really explain what's going on," he said at last, "but I do have some thoughts and a bit more information. Clarice Ghalice told you all about the White Key, correct? The Dark Guild that the knights have been tracking."

When they nodded, Jellal continued. "After what happened at Fairy Tail and the Ghalice estate, I started thinking about the break-in at the Council's vaults. That was awhile before the White Key actually came to our attention, you see, but what if it was related?"

It was a rhetorical question, and he didn't wait for them to respond. Instead, he reached into his coat and extracted a file.

"There were all sorts of magical artifacts in that vault, things that were confiscated for all manner of reasons. But the only thing they took was an amulet. Well, a collection of amulets actually, but they're all part of one artifact, which was placed in the vaults by one of Clarice's ancestors about three hundred years ago. A man called Edrik Ghalice. Shortly after he stored them there, someone put in a request for them that was denied on Edrik's orders."

"Amulets?" Lucy repeated, puzzled. "You mean like for protection?"

"Ah, no, these amulets weren't for warding. They were created to act as anchors for a powerful sealing spell." Jellal opened the file and cleared his throat. "When Edrik gave the order that the amulets were never to be disturbed, he stated that his team had had to use them on a wizard who was dangerously unstable."

"A dark wizard?" Gray asked.

"Again, no, not exactly. The man was actually a former member of the Council's research department. Someone called Dierce Senza."

Next to Natsu, Zeref tensed. His partner glanced at him, but said nothing.

Jellal was still speaking. "It turns out that Dierce had a brother who was a member of the Rune Knights. It was his brother who put in the request for the amulets. He argued with the Council about it, but when they refused his demands that they release Dierce from the seal, he resigned from the knights and disappeared."

"What you're telling us," Erza said slowly, "is that the White Key broke into the vaults and stole those amulets so that they could free this researcher? But if the amulets were put away centuries ago, how would they even know about them?"

"That's why I thought the White Key might have been involved in the first place," her partner explained, tilting the folder so he could point out a line of text for her. "The dark wizard believed to have founded that Dark Guild is called Berius. Look at his family name."

Erza squinted at the page. "Senza. That's the same as the man that was sealed."

"Exactly. He's probably a descendent. It's very likely that Dierce's brother left a record of why he left the knights and what happened to Dierce. It's not that far of a stretch to think that Berius found those records and decided to free him. Dierce was a formidable wizard in his own right, after all, and considering his history, he'd be very likely to share Berius Senza's dissatisfaction with the current order."

Gray grimaced, letting his head fall back against the cabin wall he was sitting against with a thud. "This is all sounding like some weird conspiracy."

"That," Jellal replied dryly, "would be because it is."

For a moment, the only sound about the ship was the whisper of the breeze tugging at the sails.

Then Zeref said quietly, not looking at any of them, "I suppose that explains why they were looking for me."

"Did you know them?" Natsu asked. "Dierce, I mean, and that Edrik guy. He's the one you left that clue for me with, right?"

Zeref nodded. He glanced at Natsu and then reluctantly looked at the other wizards sitting around the deck.

"About three hundred years ago, Natsu and I found a library in the mountains. It turned out that the library was part of a powerful, magical artifact, one that Dierce thought he could use to increase the power and influence of the Magic Council..."

Carefully, Zeref explained about the Mieye Library's turbulent history and his own encounter with Edrik Ghalice in the woods. He omitted most of what had transpired after that on the mountainside, but all considered, it wasn't that relevant to the current topic anyway.

"But if their goal was to carry out Dierce's original plan and they needed you to lift the seal that you placed on the library," Erza said, "why did they give up? Why leave Tenrou Island like that when they had the advantage of numbers?"

Zeref considered the question seriously, his gaze drifting back to the glimmer of lights upon the earth thousands of feet below the ship. "Perhaps because they didn't need me to break the spell anymore."

The wizards contemplated the implications of this. They definitely didn't like the sound of it.

Before anything else could be said, however, a voice echoed through their minds.

" _Hello? Hello? Can any of you hear me?_ "

.

They hadn't been at dinner. That was the only explanation Eiji could come up with. It was the only thing they had done differently today, the only thing that the majority of the other knights and other staff members had not.

They were in Clarice's room when their captain came looking for them. It was only his and Clarice's second day back at the knight headquarters where they'd been trained, and they'd opted to spend their evening reviewing the White Key documents in Clarice's private quarters. She had her own room even though she wasn't a captain yet because so many generations of her family had been involved with the Rune Knights. From another perspective, it was a sign of how high everyone's expectations were of her.

" _You two weren't at dinner, so I thought I'd bring you up some of this new drink they were serving. It's really quite unique."_

Their captain was known for caring deeply about his subordinates wellbeing, so it wasn't that surprising that he'd come to check on them himself. But... something had felt wrong anyway. Starting with the way the liquid in the glass cups glimmered in the lamplight—almost like it was glowing. It could have been their imagination, but still.

" _Thank you, captain. But, um, what is it?"_

" _It's not alcoholic, if that's what you're worried about."_

" _Well, we've already eaten and everything, but maybe if you just leave it on the table..."_

The captain hadn't insisted then, and they thought they'd heard the last of it. Neither of them really wanted to try the drinks. But... an hour later, he came back, and this time—when he noticed the cups still full on the table—he'd gotten irritated.

Everything spiraled downhill from there.

It was still difficult, however, for Eiji to understand how refusing a drink had turned into the two of them running for their lives from the members of their own team who seemed determined to capture them. From what they'd witnessed on their way through the building, a number of their colleagues had already been shuffled—angry and confused—into the temporary holding cells underground. Now, he and Clarice were barricaded in one of the building's two highest towers, hoping desperately for some way to get out of there before the people below decided to just blast their way through the trapdoor. Clarice stood by the door in the tower floor in question, layering on shielding spells as quickly as she could even as someone down below worked on breaking the shields she already had up.

"Try that Council member Jellal Fernandez," she suggested, sweat beading on her forehead as she worked. "I heard them saying that they still haven't been able to corner him. That probably means he's not involved."

Eiji nodded, thanking the heavens that he'd been born with a natural talent for telepathic communication. He thanked whatever gods might be listening again when he got a reply, and fifteen terribly long minutes later, the silhouette of a ship came gliding out of the night.

"I'm sorry, but we lost the ladder," Jellal called down to them. "But we can throw you a rope and pull you up."

And they had to move quickly because the sudden burst of shouting from down on the grounds indicated that the ship had already been spotted.

* * *

 **TBC...**

* * *

 **.**


	45. Confrontation

**Disclaimer** : I do not own Fairy Tail.

 **Pairing(s)** : Natsu Dragneal x Zeref, mentions of Jellal x Erza

 **WARNINGS: violence, alternative history,** **shounan ai (boy/boy pairing); you have been warned so don't like, don't read**

* * *

 **The Will to Live**

 **By V. Shalyr**

* * *

 **10\. Confrontation**

It was strange, Zeref thought, both how much and how little the world seemed to have changed. When he'd sealed himself away on that island, he'd thought only about seeing Natsu again. It hadn't occurred to him to think about how they were going to live or even what the world was going to be like.

"Worried?"

"Maybe a little," Zeref admitted, leaning back into his partner's embrace and thinking about another time on another ship not totally unlike this one. "I used to think you'd decide on a territory and we'd live somewhere in the wilderness. I suppose that's not really plausible anymore."

He felt Natsu shrug before replying, "I think it's too early to start deciding what's plausible and what isn't."

"Hmmm, I suppose that's true." Zeref closed his eyes. "You can sleep if you're tired. I don't mind. You don't have to keep me company."

"Nah, I'm too high on adrenaline to sleep. Anyway, I told the others I'd keep watch."

A pensive silence settled between them, and then Zeref asked, "Do you know how long it's been since you and the others made the jump?"

"About three years. Although I only just started to remember what happened back then. Hell, I thought I was human until a few weeks ago."

"And you joined a wizard guild?"

"Yeah, same one that was looking after you as it turns out. Crazy coincidence, huh? It's pretty much expected these days, joining a guild—if you want to make a living as a wizard."

Natsu went on to tell his partner about some of his adventures as a guild wizard, and Zeref listened quietly, piecing together an image from these accounts of what the dragon's life had been like in the last three years. All in all, it sounded like Natsu had had fun, and Zeref was glad for that, although he wasn't sure yet how he felt about guilds. Did he even want to "make a living as a wizard" as Natsu put it? Zeref had never seriously contemplated the possibility of doing something else, but then he'd never had the option before. Now that he did have a choice—might actually be able to participate in society—he wasn't actually sure that he wanted magic to be his profession—not because he no longer cared for it, because he did, but because he didn't want to encourage people's interest in him as a wizard. This was a strange and slightly unsettling realization, however, so he put it away for thinking about later.

.

"Guild Master Makarov says that most of the members of Fairy Tail are now barricaded in their guild hall," Eiji reported, eyes closed. "The other citizens of Magnolia City are trying to break in. It looks like all of them have been affected. The wizards are trying to avoid injuring them, but the attackers have a serious advantage in sheer numbers."

"Right," Jellal murmured, checking Fairy Tail off the list of guilds he'd put together with Erza's help. "What about Blue Pegasus?"

"Let me see." Eiji's brow furrowed, and then he said, "I can't seem to reach any of them. There's a lot of interference. It's possible that their Archive Magic specialist was one of those affected, and he's blocking me."

"I see." Jellal made a note and shook his head. "Looks like more than half of these guilds have fallen prey to whatever magic caught the people in the Council building. The rest are having trouble with regular citizens, large numbers of whom have also been affected. How did the White Key move so fast? If it is a potion like you said, it couldn't have been easy to make all these people drink it."

"Perhaps it has something to do with what Zeref said he sensed," Erza said, inclining her head towards the two wizards by the ship's prow.

They were on their way now to examine one of those disturbances.

Jellal looked at the two wizards as well. He hadn't yet been brought up to speed on the details, but he could guess at some of them just by looking at the two.

"It's obvious they didn't just meet yesterday," he said cautiously.

"No," Erza agreed. "According to Natsu, they actually met several hundred years ago."

On Erza's other side, Clarice rolled over in her bedroll and opened her eyes. She'd been trying but failing to sleep, and there didn't seem to be any reason to keep at it.

"I can believe that," she said. "It explains a few things, although it does make me wonder... I had no idea that my ancestor knew Zeref. Edrik was very well respected, you know. My family's turned out a lot of Rune Knight members since his day, but Edrik's still the most famous."

Not taking his eyes from the dark-haired wizard, Jellal said, "I suppose that just goes to show how little we really know. Do you think he'd be willing to answer some questions?"

"Depends on the questions," Erza replied. "I get the feeling that he's happy that we've been leaving him alone."

At the disappointment that flashed across her partner's face, she added. "I'm sure he'll get over it. I suggest you reserve your questions for when the kingdom isn't going crazy."

"Half of Lamia Scale is fighting the other half, or something like that," Eiji said, cutting into the conversation. "None of them have the time to tell me exactly who is fighting who though."

Jellal noted this down and sighed. Erza was right. Business first. Curiosity later.

The _Sparrow_ arrived in the skies above the source of the nearest disturbance just as dawn began to break. Almost all of the ship's passengers had, one by one, dozed off, leaving only Zeref settled against his partner by the prow. Despite being on watch, Natsu had fallen asleep sitting against the ship's railing. Zeref could have woken him but didn't. The dragon wizard and his friends had had a very eventful twenty-four hours. Zeref could keep watch on his behalf.

Throughout the night, the commotion upon the ground had gradually died down. Either people were growing tired or most of the remaining pockets of resistance had fallen. Zeref hoped that it was the former—people needed to rest, after all, ensorcelled or not—but it was most likely a combination of the two.

As the _Sparrow_ began to descend in a slow, circling glide, Zeref peered through the bars of the railing at what lay below. It looked as though they were headed for the surface of a wide, slow-moving river. The first rays of the rising sun had just begun to color its surface, but something seemed... off about the reflection. It seemed almost too bright. Too sharp.

Zeref wondered if sleeping for a couple centuries had somehow messed with his senses. But the closer they got to the water, the more certain he became that something was, indeed, wrong.

"Natsu," he said quietly, sitting up in the other wizard's arms and leaning closer to the railing for a better look. "Natsu, I think there's something wrong with this river."

Natsu grumbled something incoherent, and Zeref shook the arm loosely draped around his middle.

" _Natsu_."

"I'm awake," his partner said with a yawn. "What's wrong?"

Zeref pointed.

Natsu glanced down at the river and frowned. "Is this the place?"

"It appears so."

Slowly, the ship touched down upon the river, settling into the water with the softest of splashes and sending ripples out across its unusually brilliant surface.

"It reeks," Natsu said flatly, wrinkling his nose in disgust. "You don't even want to know what it smells like, aside from magic that is. Really strong magic."

"I think," Zeref said slowly, "that I already do."

.

The wizards gathered along the side of the ship, which now floated close to the southern bank of the vast river. They'd dropped the anchor and wondered why a ship with so many other magical properties still had a traditional metal anchor to keep it from being carried away on the current.

"I'm guessing we shouldn't replenish our water supply here," Gray said, squinting at the glimmering river. "Is it just me, or does this water look really strange?"

"It's not just you," Lucy said, lifting a hand to shade her eyes. "I don't think light usually looks like that when it reflects on water. It's way too bright."

"It's not just bright," Natsu said. "It smells like blood."

A shudder ran through the other wizards.

"Blood?" Lucy repeated. "Are you sure? But it's not—I mean, it's not red or anything."

"I know blood when I smell it, and there's definitely blood in this water. Lots of it."

Clarice spoke up, her face drained of color, "There was blood in the potion we found in their Sage Town outpost. The research department thought that it was how they were recruiting and manipulating people."

Eiji frowned uneasily. "But surely a person would have died several times over before you got enough blood to make an entire river smell of it."

"What else did the research department say?" Jellal asked. "They're reports are usually pretty detailed. Did they have any idea how the potion was supposed to work?"

"Well," Eiji said slowly, "if I remember correctly, they thought it was possible that people who drank the potion would start... thinking like the wizard who brewed it."

Half a second passed while this information sank in, and then everyone looked at Jellal, their thoughts honing back in on the documents he'd shared with them the night before. In turn, Jellal looked at Zeref.

"I guess now we know why they didn't need you anymore."

"The White Key couldn't have possibly turned all the water in the kingdom into this stuff, could they?" Lucy asked, horrified.

Gray grimaced. "Why not? They've had all night. Even if they haven't managed to hit every source of fresh water around, they've made a great start."

It was clever too. Everyone had to drink something at some point. A human could only live for so long without water.

Well, almost everyone. Zeref could manage fine without water, although being desperately thirsty would be... uncomfortable. Kind of like starving.

"No wonder the whole kingdom's lost its mind," Natsu muttered. "This is bad, isn't it?"

"Bad," Erza said as though she were trying the word out. "Yes, I think it's safe to say that this is bad."

And it was about to get just a little bit worse.

"Duck!" Natsu said suddenly, grabbing Zeref and pulling him down with him.

At the same moment, something small whizzed through the air where his partner had been standing. The tiny missile struck the deck and stuck there. They didn't waste time staring at the wooden dart. Natsu straightened and sent a blast of fire towards the shore. The responding shouts of anger and pain were accompanied by a volley of darts, which Gray intercepted with a wall of ice.

"Go!" Erza shouted, dodging a stray dart and racing over to put her hand on the sparrow figurehead. "Up, up!"

The ship lurched skyward at once, lifting out of the water and rising almost straight up towards the clouds. Its passengers grabbed at the rails to avoid being thrown off their feet. Another burst of frustrated shouts dwindled away below them.

Erza didn't slow the ship down again until they had broken through the clouds, and as she did so, a cool voice echoed through their minds.

" _Councilman Jellal Fernandez_ ," the voice said. " _You are the only member of the Magic Council who has not joined my side. We understand that you are one of the most promising wizards of this current generation. In consideration of this, we would like to make you an offer._ "

Jellal glanced at his companions then took a deep breath and replied, speaking aloud even though he knew he didn't have to for the owner of the telepathic voice to hear him. " _If your offer has anything to do with joining forces with you, then I'm afraid I'll have to turn you down_."

There was a pause, then the voice—now distinctly cold—said, " _I see. In that case, prepare yourself. I had hoped to convert everyone in Fiore and avoid any unnecessary deaths. However, if you and your companions insist on opposing us, you'll leave us no choice_."

It was an incredibly corny thing to say, but Jellal said it anyway. "You won't get away with this. Dierce, isn't it? You know, people don't like being coerced. There's a reason the Council backed Edrik Ghalice's decisions three hundred years ago."

Rather than growing angry, Dierce laughed. " _In a generation or two, no one will know any differently. We have control over every major body of water in this kingdom. You are vastly outnumbered. It's only a matter of time. Even if you were to kill me now, my ideals will live on. And, of course, I'm not working alone. This kingdom is long overdue for a change, and I'm not the only one who thinks so. So tell me, what do you think you're going to do?_ "

A grim scowl hardened the blue-haired wizard's face. Unfortunately, Dierce had a valid point. Before he could decide how to retort, Zeref spoke, surprising all of them.

"We're going to stop you," he said, perfectly calm and collected. "The world you describe would be a dreadful place to live."

The dark-haired wizard began writing in the air while he spoke.

Dierce sneered. " _You're free to try. You modern-day wizards can't even hold a candle to the wizards we used to have in this kingdom. All you people know how to do is blast away at things and waste energy. It'll take more than that to change what has happened_."

The "modern-day wizards" on the _Sparrow_ frowned at this insult, but didn't interrupt.

The tone of Zeref's voice didn't change at all when he replied, "I suppose it's fortunate that they found me then, isn't it?"

Dierce seemed taken aback by this. There was a long silence before he asked, " _Who am I speaking to_?"

"No one important," Zeref said.

He finished what he was writing and looked over at Eiji. The telepath moved around so he could read the note, which asked if he was able to shield them. Eiji thought for a moment then nodded and closed his eyes so he could focus.

Dierce began to speak again, but only managed to get out one syllable before he was cut off abruptly. Sweat broke out across Eiji's forehead.

"I can prevent anyone from scrying or otherwise seeking us out with telepathic magic for awhile," the telepath said, "but I'm not sure how long I can keep it up."

"That's all right," Zeref told him. "I'm sure he'll figure out who I am soon enough, especially if he remembers my magical signature. Still, I'd like to delay that for as long as possible."

"So then, what's the plan?" Natsu asked. It was obvious that his partner had one. "Are we going after Dierce?"

Zeref shook his head, hesitated, glanced around at the gathered wizards—all watching him expectantly—and cleared his throat. "How far are we from Eden Lake?"

* * *

 **TBC...**

* * *

 **.**


	46. Return to Sky Road

**Disclaimer** : I do not own Fairy Tail.

 **Pairing(s)** : Natsu Dragneal x Zeref, mentions of Jellal x Erza

 **WARNINGS: violence, alternative history,** **shounan ai (boy/boy pairing); you have been warned so don't like, don't read**

* * *

 **The Will to Live**

 **By V. Shalyr**

* * *

 **11\. Return to Sky Road**

Reed Town had no wizard guilds of any kind, and it had its own freshwater springs where the inhabitants tended to draw their drinking water. The geography of the region meant the town remained largely isolated from the rest of the world except for the ships that occasionally traversed the lake, and all of this meant that the settlement was still untouched by the turmoil sweeping across the rest of the kingdom.

It was the perfect—and possibly _only_ —suitable place for them to restock on supplies.

Unlike Sage Town, Reed had changed very little over the last few hundred years. It was the kind of town that people moved away from rather than into, so its population hadn't really increased—not that there would have been room for it if it had. Mostly, the place remained a starting point for amateur musicians and a tourist attraction, although most tourists preferred to visit earlier in the year—during the spring when all the carefully cultivated plants were in full blossom.

"We'll take all the meat you have," Natsu told the butcher.

"Uh, are you sure?" the man asked. "I could use the money, don't get me wrong, but only some of it's been smoked and salted. Do you have some way to preserve the fresh stuff?"

"That won't be a problem," Natsu assured him. "Besides, we've got a big party."

Zeref eyed the pig and poultry carcasses hanging behind the counter. That looked like a lot of meat, but he supposed that the enchanted pantry in the library should have more than enough room. And anyway, they had no idea how long they'd have to stay there, or if they'd be able to get out and hunt for more food.

Clarice was next door purchasing rice and flour, and Gray and Lucy had volunteered to look for spices and to drop by the local bakery. That left Jellal and Erza in charge of water and anything else they could think of that they might need in order to weather a few days underground. Eiji was back on the ship, doing everything he could to shield their minds from detection and looking a little like he was on the verge of fainting dead away. They wished that they could help him, but the best they could do was keep him supplied with strong tea.

On the other side of town, Lucy inspected the pastries on display in the bakery window while Gray haggled with the shopkeeper across the street over two sacks of oatmeal. All the pastries looked and smelled delicious. At another time, she would have showed some restraint and chosen just the most appealing of the sweet snacks. But today, she had all the reasons she needed to buy up everything on the shelves.

The woman at the counter didn't seem surprised at all when Lucy brought her heaping tray over to checkout.

"You won't regret it," she assured the wizard with a wide, warm smile. "Those were all baked only just this morning. There will be another batch coming out in about an hour if you want to wait."

"Oh no, that's all right." Lucy smiled back. "My friends and I are in kind of a hurry."

"Going up the mountain?" the woman asked, wrapping each pastry in paper and placing it neatly into a cardboard box.

"Um, yeah. How did you know?"

"It's the only place anyone goes in a hurry from here where you'd need to bring this much food along," the woman said with a laugh. "It's a wonderful spot for sightseeing, although it's more impressive a bit earlier in the year—or even a bit later, to be honest. Summer up in these mountains is a bit too warm to be entirely comfortable. But I suppose you have your reasons for visiting now."

The cashier lowered her voice and added, "Anyway, they say there was a _dragon_ living up in those mountains once upon a time, and there was a huge battle between the beast and the Rune Knights up on the mountainside. I've never been there myself—it's a bit much of a hike for me, but some people say you can still see evidence of the fighting."

Lucy shifted a little uncomfortably. "You don't say. It must have been bad."

"Terrible, more like." The older woman sighed and shook her head. "The knights were slaughtered. A few of them did manage to survive and drag themselves back down to our humble little settlement, but it was a real tragedy. Some people say that the Black Wizard Zeref sent the dragon on a rampage, and the knights tried to stop them from destroying this town. I heard that you could see the fires burning on the mountainside for _days_."

The bakery door swung open then closed, the squeak of the hinges feeling a little too loud.

"Hey," Gray said, "are you done here?"

Relieved at having an excuse to cut off the woman's story, Lucy gave him a smile before turning back to the cashier and saying apologetically, "Thanks. Could you please bag those for me?"

Back out in the street, Gray raised an eyebrow at her and asked, "Was there a problem? You look a bit pale."

Lucy looked down at the pastries in the paper bag in her arms. "She was just telling me some old town stories..."

Slowly, she told him what the cashier had said.

"Do you... think it was them?" she asked at last.

"It certainly sounds like it, doesn't it?" The Ice Wizard was quiet for a moment, then he said, "Although it probably didn't go down the way the townspeople think. They would only have had the knights' accounts of what happened after all."

"It's probably true that a lot of people were killed though."

"Probably."

They pondered this while they turned their feet back towards the edge of the settlement where they'd left the ship. Somehow, it made the time period that Natsu had briefly described to them seem more real.

"I suppose it's not really any of our business," Lucy said finally as the _Sparrow_ came into view.

"No," Gray said, "I suppose it's not."

They glanced at each other and silently agreed not to bring it up if there was no reason to.

.

To its credit, the _Sparrow_ wobbled only a little as it set off again, adjusting—albeit sluggishly—to all the extra weight.

"So," Jellal said, walking across the deck towards the dark-haired figure at the prow, "could you tell me why we're going to this library?"

Natsu had reluctantly left his partner's side in order to help secure all the new supplies, and Jellal had seized the opportunity to approach the boy. Large, dark eyes turned towards him, and Jellal thought again that the Black Wizard looked absolutely nothing like he would have imagined.

Zeref hesitated then said, "I'm hoping that we will be able to modify it and use it to reverse what Dierce has done. Please, if I tell you to back away, do so right away."

"Of course. I've been informed."

Zeref nodded and looked back at the mountains.

Jellal thought that that was all the shorter wizard was going to say, but then Zeref explained, "The magic circle used by the library's creators was designed to affect quite a large area. If I remember correctly, it allowed a wizard to use the natural magic in the atmosphere to amplify a spell, causing a sort of... ripple effect. I'm fairly certain that it will work. We just have to make some adjustments first."

Jellal rested his hands on the railing, careful to stay a good couple paces away. "I guess I'll have to see it for myself to understand what you have in mind."

They would also have to locate and capture Dierce, as well as whichever wizard had helped in contaminating the kingdom's water supply. If they didn't, the White Key could just change everything back, and it would all become an endless cycle with each side trying to outwait the other.

Zeref started to say something else, but the sight of something on the ground stopped him. The corners of his lips tugged downward in a slight frown, and the expression in his eyes grew melancholy. A moment later, Natsu climbed up from the storage room below decks and wandered over to join them. The Dragon Slayer put an arm around his partner's waist, started to ask him what was wrong, glanced over the railing, and stopped, a frown settling onto his own face.

Confused and curious, Jellal peered over the railing towards the ground as well. There didn't seem to be anything special about the sea of trees down there, or the grassy fields and stretches of dry dirt that began where the forest ended. There were a few odd scars across the landscape, including a number of deep gouges in the nearby cliffs, but these didn't mean anything to the young Council representative. He glanced back at the other two wizards, but thought better of asking what was troubling them. He could tell when such questions would not be welcome. Quietly, Jellal excused himself and went to see if Erza needed help with anything.

Several minutes ticked by after Jellal had departed before either of the remaining two wizards spoke.

"It's been hundreds of years," Natsu muttered. "I can't believe you can still see signs."

"Rock doesn't grow back," Zeref said. "And dragon fire is rather a lot more potent than ordinary fire. I'm not surprised that the plants have had trouble."

There was another long silence, and then Natsu sighed. "Where do you want us to land this ship? I can't see Sky Road, but your magic's all over this place and I _know_ this is the right part of the mountain."

.

Returning to the valley where he'd spent so many mornings and evenings meditating to reclaim his dragon transformation felt strangely like returning home. Natsu thought that it was probably because he'd been happy there, and because he had at least one quite important memory associated with the place. The thought would have made him smirk if the current circumstances hadn't been so serious.

The wizards gathered before the steep, rocky slope that formed one side of the valley. Zeref placed both of his hands flat against a patch of grayish brown stone and closed his eyes. A moment later, where there had been nothing but rough stone, there was suddenly a door—well camouflaged, but undeniably manmade. Light traced through the intricate patterns etched into its surface, and then with a soft grinding sound, the door slid sideways to reveal a dimly lit corridor.

Natsu and Zeref let the others go first. The wonder on their companions' faces provided a bit of amusement in an otherwise grim situation. Before any of them could set about exploring, however, they had to unload all the supplies from the ship and get the perishables into the enchanted pantry. That work took the better part of two hours, and once it was done, Zeref and Clarice put up their own barriers on each of the library's entryways to keep out unwelcome guests while Eiji handled the hasty construction of an alarm system that would alert them should anyone try to break in. When all of this was finally finished, the poor telepath passed out cold on the library floor and had to be carried into one of the spare rooms.

They ate dinner in subdued silence, seated around one of the stone tables on the first floor. For Natsu and Zeref, it felt eerily like they'd gone back in time. The library looked exactly as it had when they had left it, right down to a pile of books that Zeref had left on a different table and forgotten to put back on the shelves. None of them had the energy to bother trying to cook anything, so they had pastries. By the time Clarice excused herself to check on her fellow knight and bring him some tea, they'd made a respectable dent in Lucy's bakery purchases.

Erza wiped her hands on a napkin, folded it, and looked around the table. "We need a plan."

Zeref took a deep breath and explained to the rest of them what he had explained to Jellal.

"I'm not sure how long it will take to make the necessary modifications though," he said in conclusion. "Seeing as our goal would be the opposite of what the magic circle was originally intended for."

"I can help with that," Jellal volunteered. "I actually used to work in the Council's research department. It would be best if we could make the changes you want before the autumn rains come."

There was a pause in which everyone at the table thought of that tainted, almost silvery water falling in droplets and sheets from the sky, drenching all the animals and plants and soaking into the earth. A few of them shivered while others scowled. There was no telling how long it would take the evaporating lake and river water to leak out into the rest of the ecosystem, but considering the sheer amount, it would probably be soon—assuming it hadn't happened already.

They would have to make sure to inspect everything they ate before they ate it.

"Won't this Dierce guy guess what we're up to?" Gray asked, leaning back in his chair and folding his arms across his chest.

Zeref nodded. "I'm sure that he will."

"Well," Erza said, thinking aloud, "this place seems fairly defensible, and that alarm spell should be helpful. Are those barrier spells you placed on the doorways easy to cast? If the rest of us learn how to repair and reinforce them, we could keep watch in shifts and probably prevent any breaches for quite some time."

"I don't know about Zeref's," Clarice said, returning from the living quarters and resuming her seat at the table, "but I know a whole range of rune-based barrier spells that should be simple for wizards like you to pick up. I can teach them to you now unless you would all like a nap first."

There was a murmur of agreement from the members of the group that didn't already have warding spells of their own.

"Oh, one other thing, though it might be a bit off topic," Clarice said, grimacing. "I checked the bathing rooms, and unfortunately, it seems like the White Key got to the river that the water gets channeled from. We probably shouldn't take any baths in it."

This invoked a collective groan of dismay. That was pretty terrible news considering the very active day they'd had.

Zeref glanced at Natsu, who quirked an eyebrow and grinned in sudden amusement.

"Zeref might be able to do something about that."

The others looked at them.

Hopeful, Lucy asked, "You mean you have a spell to purify the water in the bathrooms?"

"Um, no, not exactly." Zeref coughed. "It's more like a spell to clean dirty laundry when water isn't available, but I see no reason why it can't be used on people too."

* * *

 **TBC...**

* * *

 **.**


	47. Calm Before the Storm

**Disclaimer** : I do not own Fairy Tail.

 **Pairing(s)** : Natsu Dragneal x Zeref, mentions of Jellal x Erza

 **WARNINGS: violence, alternative history,** **shounan ai (boy/boy pairing); you have been warned so don't like, don't read**

* * *

 **The Will to Live**

 **By V. Shalyr**

* * *

 **12\. Calm Before the Storm**

"You'll have to use some magic to get the runes to actually show up in the air," Clarice said. "Call up the energy, but don't cast any spells. Just keep the feeling of it steady and draw."

The knight looked around at the other wizards scattered about the clear patch of floor. Here and there, a line would flicker into life in the air only to sputter out again, or a marking would flare up too brightly and then burn out. She'd never realized how tough this could be for some people. These wizards were more used to fighting with their magic than to creating subtle enchantments. Clarice supposed this was why most wizards specialized in only one kind of magic. Once you got used to handling a certain kind of spell, it was difficult to shift gears.

Over by one of the tables, Gray accidentally drew a rune with ice instead of energy and swore when it dropped to the ground, shattering into tiny, chilly fragments that immediately began to melt.

One table over, Natsu sniggered.

Gray scowled. "It's not like you're doing any better."

"Maybe not now, but I will soon."

Out of the assembled wizards, Jellal was the quickest study. He did everything right on the first try, and Clarice had moved on to showing him some of the more advanced shielding spells.

Fire flared and set the napkins still on the dining table ablaze, instantly reducing them to ashes.

"Hey, watch it!" Gray yelped, straightening from where he'd ducked to avoid having his hair set on fire too. "None of us need burns in addition to everything else we're dealing with."

Natsu started to retort, but stopped before anything was actually said. Instead, he looked up towards the second floor. A moment later, Zeref appeared from one of the archways, glanced down at them, hesitated, then looked away again.

"Sorry, Clarice, I'll continue this later," Natsu said, heading for the foot of the spiral staircase.

None of them tried to stop him or ask what was going on. It was easy to see the relief that flashed across Zeref's face when his partner made his way up the steps to meet him. If the two wanted the rest of them to do anything, they would say so.

.

"I'm sorry for interrupting," Zeref said when Natsu reached him. "But I wanted to take a look at that chamber, and I didn't want to go in there by myself."

"Considering what it was like last time we were there, that's no surprise," Natsu said, leading the way back into the chamber beyond the archway and holding the waterfall tapestry out of the way so his partner could open the hidden door. It was mildly annoying that, being the only non-human in the group, Natsu was the only one who couldn't open these doors simply by touching them, but there wasn't anything they could do about that. "I guess Dierce probably got rid of that barrier that was in the way there last time he tried to use it, huh?"

"Yes. According to Edrik, he put the missing piece back too."

"Right." Natsu scowled a little. "You mention this Edrik person a lot. He can't have been that remarkable. I mean, you said he was a Rune Knight captain. Wasn't it kind of risky to look him up?"

The door slid aside, and Zeref glanced at Natsu, bemused.

"You can't possibly be jealous."

"Of course not," Natsu scoffed, following him into the dim hallway and letting the tapestry fall back into place behind them. He paused then added grudgingly, "All right, maybe a little bit. It's weird hearing you talk about someone I didn't know."

"I have plenty of good things to say about you too, you know," Zeref said, amusement coloring his voice, although the humor didn't last for very long. "Some of the others asked about you—Xander for one. I didn't know what to tell them."

Natsu sobered at that as well. In the solemn, heavy hush that pervaded the ancient library, the past felt somehow both very real and very far away. Too far away. The memories he'd only just begun to recover were as clear and sharp as if the events had happened only yesterday, and it was strange and a little unsettling to think that all the others in those memories were now gone—and had _been_ gone for generations—individuals who had helped them or that they had helped in their own way.

"Did you check up on them? All the people we met?"

"No, not really. I... sort of prefer not to know sometimes. But I did cross paths with some of them while I was looking for a place to sleep. And some of the others I heard about later on. Mostly from town gossip. People like to talk."

Natsu nodded. He could understand the desire not to know for certain even if he didn't quite share it. Zeref probably found it easier to believe that everyone had lived their lives happily and well than to know for sure that some of them had not.

"I saw Xander's house recently. It looks mostly the same from the outside, though the yard's in way better shape."

"He made quite a fortune, helping his friend with her camera and photography business," Zeref said, pausing at an intersection and trying to remember if they were supposed to turn right or left. "He got married about two years after we left. He sent me a wedding invitation. I have no idea how he managed to get the letter to me."

"You didn't go?"

"The invite reached me a little too late. I would have ignored it, but... I thought you'd say I should go, so I went by to see him. I thought about giving them a wedding present, but it would only have made things difficult for them to have anything from me. Some of the knights were still looking for me at the time, even though Edrik had filed for the search to be ended. Something about it being a waste of much-needed resources. Oh, and Xander and his wife ended up opening a restaurant for vegetarian cuisine."

Natsu made a face. "You're kidding. And they got customers?"

"Yes, they did. It was incredibly popular in fact. And actually, I thought it was quite good too."

"Yeah?" Natsu sounded dubious. "Wonder if the place is still around. When we're done here, we'll go look for it."

Zeref smiled at that. "I hope it is."

"So who else?"

"Well..." Zeref thought for a moment. "I ran into Taiyo while I was camping out in the woods. I can't remember exactly where. I believe he was on his way to a tournament. He wanted to know where you were so he could challenge you to a proper duel. I think he still wanted to know which of you was the better Fire Wizard."

"Me, obviously. I didn't realize there were that many wizard tournaments back then."

"Me neither," Zeref admitted. "I think such competitions were only just becoming popular."

"They're pretty common in the kingdom these days," Natsu told him. "Wizard competitions, I mean. It's not just duels either. They're really treated more like sports competitions than anything with footraces and all that. I think you might like watching them."

And so another item was added to the rapidly growing list of things that they would do when the kingdom wasn't in danger of collapse. It was nice, having things to look forward to... Having plans for the future.

Although honestly, Zeref didn't care what they did. He was just happy to have Natsu back again.

"Any idea what happened to Maki and her sister?"

They talked on about the past while they made their way through the maze of rooms and corridors, arriving at last before the intricately-carved chamber door. Even before it opened, both of them knew that the water in the chamber had changed. Zeref frowned and stepped over the threshold with reluctance.

"I don't know how you can stand it," he said, referring to the telltale tang of copper that he could almost but not quite smell. "I'm glad my nose isn't nearly as keen as yours. Working in here would be unbearable."

Natsu shrugged. "I'm a dragon. I don't mind the blood. It's the magic that smells nasty."

And it _did_ smell nasty—not malicious, per se, but cloyingly sweet like rotten perfume.

The white stone floor glowed faintly beneath their feet, and Zeref just stood for a moment, cautiously checking to see if he could still feel those dark echoes from before. When nothing happened, he relaxed and carefully moved across the chamber to the magic circle, its chiseled lines clear despite—or perhaps because of—the light that emanated from all around them.

Gingerly, Zeref knelt and placed his hands on the cool stone, running his fingers along the pattern and committing it to memory. It wasn't quite the same as he'd thought, but it was close. Natsu watched him do this in silence, his gaze lingering on the way loose strands of black hair fell across the wizard's pale cheek. After a few minutes, Zeref sat back on his heels and let out a soft breath, not quite but almost a sigh.

"So will it work?" Natsu asked.

Zeref looked up at him and nodded slowly. "Yes, I'm certain that it will. But we'll need to be careful with it, and we'll have to move some of the white monuments outside."

He glanced back at the pattern then at Natsu once more and asked, "That blue-haired wizard, could you tell me more about him? What kind of person is he? Is he... trustworthy? I'm sorry. I know they're all friends of yours, but I have to ask."

"Nah, it's okay."

Natsu understood why his partner felt the need to make sure. After all, Zeref knew better than anyone how important it could be to keep certain magical secrets. Hell, their current predicament only went to further prove that fact.

"I don't actually know Jellal that well, but I'll tell you what I can and you can decide for yourself what you think of him..."

.

Dierce stormed through the old Council building, a dark scowl on his face. He shouldn't have pulled Berius and the others back from Tenrou Island when he had, and he cursed himself yet again for having done so. It hadn't occurred to him that the guild wizards might be able to bring Zeref around, or that the Black Wizard might help them oppose him. It was too late now to regret those choices, however.

Really, if he was honest with himself though, a tiny part of him was glad for the distraction. He was discovering that surrounding himself with likeminded individuals maybe—just _maybe_ —wasn't quite as ideal as he had imagined. It wasn't for any sort of deep, philosophical reason, mind you. It was simply that... it was rather anticlimactic. He didn't have to explain anything to anyone because most of them already knew what he was going to say—perhaps even wanted to say the same themselves. And now that he could, in fact, do whatever he wanted to restructure the kingdom, he wasn't sure what those changes should be or what he ought to do first. He'd just been so angry after finally being released from that hellish seal. More than anything, he'd been angry that Edrik Ghalice was no longer around, and so it had been impossible to take revenge on him.

No matter, he told himself. Perhaps there was some merit to Berius's ambitions of expanding the kingdom. And they could create more magic schools. Dierce had always thought the world could use more wizards. In fact, if everyone in the kingdom became a wizard, who knew what they'd be able to accomplish?

Dierce relaxed.

Everything would fall into place once they dealt with the little problem of the small group of wizards they hadn't been able to surprise or wear down.

Berius was in the dining hall, seated at the head of one of the long tables. He had a glass of red wine in his hand and looked like he was far too pleased with himself.

"Everyone's ready to go when you are," the younger man informed him, grinning over the rim of his goblet. "Well, almost everyone. I'll be ready once I've finished my drink."

Was this man really related to him? Dierce wondered.

"Don't get carried away," he said sternly. "I can't believe you're drinking right before a battle."

Berius waved a hand dismissively. "You need to lighten up. Honestly, why the long face? We've got this thing in the bag."

Dierce scowled at him. He'd been confident before Berius opened his mouth, but the younger man's attitude brought his doubts crashing back. He'd been confident in the past too. He would never have expected Edrik of all people to be the one to thwart him.

"Just get ready. The ships from Sage Town will be arriving in half an hour."

.

The giant, white stone sphere rolled laboriously a few inches up the slope and Lucy stood back, wiping the sweat from her forehead with the back of her hand.

"Whew, these things are heavy, aren't they?"

Beside her, Gray rolled his shoulders and grimaced. "What do you expect? They're solid stone."

And they'd been shifting the various monuments around for the past hour. The placements had to be exact, and they had to be careful not to damage any of the stones. Lucy swore they got heavier by the minute.

"Is it really okay for us to be moving these around?" she wondered, glancing about them at the scattering of white sculptures. "These things are practically landmarks. It feels a little like vandalism."

Gray looked amused at that. "I can see your point, but they say extreme times call for extreme measures, right? I don't think anyone will really care either way anyway. I mean, until recently, you couldn't even see most of these things because of Zeref's spell."

"That's true," Lucy said, although she still felt a little doubtful. Not about it being necessary, but about whether anyone would mind. Somehow, it just seemed... disrespectful to the people who had originally built this place. Maybe she just felt this way because the arrangement of too-white monuments made her think of headstones in a graveyard. Technically, you could argue that the dead were beyond caring, but that didn't make moving the headstones around any less inappropriate.

"So which one's next?" Gray asked.

"Let me see." Lucy dug a tape measure and the sketch of the area out of her pocket and examined the latter with a critical eye. "Um, there should be an obelisk to my right..."

She glanced over to her right. "Oh, I see. That one over there. We've got to move it a meter towards the east."

"A whole meter?"

Lucy double checked the scrawled notations and nodded. "Looks like it. And it's got to be equidistant from all four of these spheres."

Gray sighed and held out his hand for the tape measure. "I guess we'd better get to it then."

Erza's voice drifted over to them from the other side of a nearby ridge.

"Come on, Clarice, you have to put your back into it!"

"Do you think that's supposed to be encouraging?" Gray wondered.

Lucy sighed. "Well, I think Erza probably thinks it is. Poor Clarice. She spent all morning trying to teach us new spells, and now this. Do you think... Do you think there's a possibility that we'll be able to fix this without having to fight people who don't even really want to fight us?"

Gray looked away and bowed his head, starting towards the obelisk and unrolling the tape measure. "Let's hurry."

And his lack of response told her everything she needed to know about what he thought. No, the Ice Wizard did not believe that they would be that lucky.

Lucy sighed and followed him. At times like these, she wondered if maybe her father had been right and becoming a wizard hadn't been the best career choice after all.

.

This, Jellal thought, surveying all the notes and diagrams sketched upon the papers neatly arranged across the tabletop, was why Zeref was considered a genius wizard. He knew so much and thought so quickly about the problem at hand that Jellal was, despite his best efforts, just a tad bit envious.

"I found the stuff you wanted," Natsu announced, arriving at the first-floor tables with a stack of books.

"Thank you," Zeref said, looking up from his work. "Would you please hand me the one with the details on Sky Road?"

"Sure." Natsu set the pile on a clear table, selected a thin, green volume, and passed it over. "Here."

Jellal cleared his throat and asked, "What should I do? The work outside is going well, so I don't need to continue supervising."

"I was hoping that you could handle re-carving some parts of the magic circle on the waterfall chamber floor," Zeref said, gesturing at one of his sketches. "It's this one. But first, could you look this over and see if you agree with the changes?"

"No problem." Jellal stepped over to the table and picked up the paper in question.

"Wait a second," he said, tilting the page so more light could fall upon it. "You've designed it for three wizards instead of one?"

"That's right, I did. Do you think it will alter things too much? I thought it would help minimize the possibility of accidentally making everyone think like whoever casts the counter spell. The extra two people are just there to provide support—mentally and magically."

"I see. Actually, it seems pretty clear-cut to me. I don't see why it shouldn't be all right."

Jellal inspected the rest of the alterations more closely. One thing was for sure. He could learn a lot from working with this wizard if he just paid attention.

.

Eiji jerked awake, his heart pounding in his throat. He was still exhausted from having overexerted himself and his head felt like it was half full of cotton, but muzzy or not, he had to get up and warn the others.

This urgent thought clawing at his mind, the telepath threw off the blankets someone had thoughtfully draped over him and rolled off the side of the bed. His knee hit the bed frame and he sucked in a sharp breath through his teeth.

"Ow..."

Eiji rubbed his knee, wincing, and staggered into an upright position. Ignoring the pain, he reached out with his mind, trying to locate his companions. Ugh, Clarice was really far away. So who else? Who was the closest?

Weaving a little unsteadily like someone drunk, Eiji half ran, half stumbled from the room, down the hall, and through the archway that led into the main library.

"Mister Zeref sir," he said, making a beeline for the dark-haired figure at the nearest table.

The wizard in question started and scrambled around the table away from him, turning wide, alarmed eyes in Eiji's direction.

"Don't—!"

Eiji didn't wait for him to finish.

"There are people coming," the knight said, leaning on the table to keep himself on his feet. "Lots and lots of them."

"Please calm down," Zeref said, scooting another step away from the frantic telepath. "I assume you mean wizards."

"Yes! Lots and lots of wizards. From the guilds—and headquarters—and—"

"I understand," Zeref interrupted him. "It's sooner than we had hoped, but it's not unexpected."

Eiji stared at him, trying to process what was going on through his weariness. Right, of course it was expected.

"Perhaps you should go back to sleep," Zeref added, eyeing him like he thought Eiji was going to keel over.

"Are you crazy? I can't sleep at a time like this!"

Zeref considered this. The knight had a point. In his shoes, Zeref wouldn't have been able to sleep either.

"All right," he said. "Then could you go outside and let the others know that they should finish up and come back in?"

Eiji nodded and staggered off.

Zeref returned to the table, relieved to have it to himself again. That meant he had to finish up too and go check on Jellal's progress. And then... Then they would have to distribute tasks for the upcoming encounter.

Zeref shut his eyes for a moment and let out a rueful sigh. What an introduction this was turning out to be to Natsu's current friends and acquaintances.

" _I can vouch for them_ ," the dragon had told him. " _And for you too, if they ask. So just focus on what we have to do, all right?_ "

 _All right_ , he thought, drew the last few lines on the new diagram, gathered up the important papers, and headed for the second floor.

* * *

 **TBC...**

* * *

 **AN:** Thanks for reading, reviewing, etc.

 **.**


	48. Under Siege

**Disclaimer** : I do not own Fairy Tail.

 **Pairing(s)** : Natsu Dragneal x Zeref, mentions of Jellal x Erza

 **WARNINGS: violence, alternative history,** **shounan ai (boy/boy pairing); you have been warned so don't like, don't read**

* * *

 **The Will to Live**

 **By V. Shalyr**

* * *

 **13\. Under Siege**

"Zeref should be the one to cast the spell," Natsu said.

He didn't actually expect anyone to object or demand otherwise. Deep down, the Dragon Slayer was certain that his companions knew that his partner was the only logical choice for what they were about to try. Still, he felt he may as well emphasize the point—before Zeref himself had a chance to ask any questions that would display the dark wizard's own doubts about their trust.

Erza answered for all of them. "Of course. After all, he's the one who came up with the whole idea in the first place. That means we need two more people to stand in the circle with him, is that correct? Who should they be?"

Zeref glanced around at this group of wizards who were only just beginning to become something other than strangers. He felt only a minor sense of unease from them, and it seemed directed towards their current predicament rather than Zeref himself.

"Well," the dark wizard said carefully. "The other two wizards will be helping to supply the power needed to start the spell, so it should be individuals with large reserves of magical energy."

"I'll do it," Natsu volunteered at once. "I've got plenty of magic to spare."

"That's true," Zeref said, his brow furrowing. "But, Natsu, you do realize that if you're part of the spell, you can't just leave in the middle of the casting to fight... Not even if the enemy gets into the library."

Predictably, the Dragon Slayer frowned at this. He hadn't thought of that. That was a major commitment indeed, especially when he knew there was an army of wizards on the way.

"if that's the case," Eiji spoke up, "then I would like to volunteer. I'm not much of a fighter, but I do have quite a lot of magical energy. I've been training as a wizard for as long as I can remember. Would that be all right?"

Zeref nodded. "Of course. Thank you."

"I'd like to volunteer as well," Jellal said. "I would very much like to see how this spell unfolds from up close."

Zeref hesitated on the verge of saying yes and glanced back at Natsu. "Is that... all right with you?"

"Yeah, I guess so." Natsu grinned somewhat ruefully. "Especially since I can't promise not to attack if some stranger comes crashing through the door while the spell's still going."

"Please try not to destroy any of the books. It would be an incredible shame."

"I won't. I promise."

"Right then," Erza said, donning a rather impressive suit of armor with a flicker of pink light. "We've located six different entrances to this library in total. Now, one person should stand guard over the chamber where the spell will be cast. Natsu, I assume you'll want that job?"

"You bet."

Erza nodded and continued, "Everyone else, choose an entrance that you feel you can defend most effectively. Lucy, are you sure you can handle summoning two spirits to cover the two entry points we can't cover?"

The younger girl's hand went to her ring of Gate Keys, a few silver but most of them gold, and she lifted her chin. "I'm sure."

It wasn't like they had a whole lot of options here.

.

The alarm blared through the halls a second before they heard the first boom. The sound of the explosion rumbled through the library's foundations, although not yet with enough force to jostle the books upon their shelves.

"How long are you expecting those shields to last?" Natsu asked, glancing in the general direction of the blasts even though they couldn't yet see any of their attackers. "You said they actually came with the library, right?"

"That's right," Zeref said. "Jellal upgraded them somewhat, but the shields built into the spell work here were quite robust to begin with once we got them working again."

There was another explosion, even louder than the first, and Zeref frowned. "However, at this rate, I doubt they'll last more than a handful of minutes."

Leading the way down the corridor ahead of them, Jellal opened the waterfall chamber door and stepped inside, explaining the layout of the magic circle upon the floor to Eiji as he went. The telepath listened intently and occasionally offered a question. He hadn't been exaggerating when he'd spoken of how long he had trained as a wizard, and Jellal didn't have to do much more than summarize what he and Zeref had done and planned to do.

Just before the doorway, Zeref turned to Natsu and said, "We can't be interrupted, so please make sure that no one passes this way until the entire casting is over."

"I will."

They fell silent, but Zeref made no move to join the other wizards beyond the glowing, white threshold. There was so much they still had to say, so many loose ends that still hadn't been resolved. They'd hardly had anytime at all to think about the past, let alone deal with it, not at the speed at which everything had happened since Zeref's awakening. Strange really, for both of them to have lived so long and yet feel so pressed for time.

"Ah, what the hell," Natsu muttered, and pulled his partner into a hard kiss. When they drew apart, he said, "Don't get yourself killed or anything."

"Shouldn't I be the one saying that?" Zeref asked, bemused. "Dragons are long-lived, but I'm the one who's immortal."

Natsu shrugged. "You never know. It doesn't hurt to be careful, and I know for a fact that you weren't always careful."

Zeref had to concede that that was true. Before Natsu had come along, he'd done his best to test just _how_ immortal he actually was.

"I'll be careful," he promised. "And you'll do the same?"

"Naturally." Natsu grinned, a little joking but mostly serious. "You've waited three hundred years for me. I'm not going to let us be a tragedy."

As far as parting words before a battle went, those were some pretty good ones.

.

Gray felt it the moment the library's shields shattered. The backlash of power sizzled through the entire underground complex, making the hairs prickle on the back of his neck and twisting up his stomach with nausea.

Good thing he hadn't eaten much before this, he thought.

Shoving the feelings of discomfort to the back of his mind, Gray began retracing the runes drawn upon the air before the gateway he had chosen. He counted seven layers of glowing marks between himself and the stone of the door like seven, semitransparent walls. As he drew, an eighth wall began to take shape—but not before a resounding boom from outside caused the first layer of runes to stutter. Gray grit his teeth and wrote faster, concentrating on each line and angle of the glyphs. Clarice had drilled it into them that the shapes had to be precise. Exact. Another blast from the other side of the door made the stone shudder and his last rune dropped to the floor, sending chips of ice skittering across the ground.

"Damn it!" he swore. "Not this again. I thought I'd gotten the hang of it."

Then again, moments of extreme stress were not ideal for trying anything new.

A third explosion followed on the heels of the second, and both of the outermost barriers flashed, fizzled, and died entirely. Gray swore again and abandoned any attempt to reinforce the walls of glyphs. Instead, he crouched and slammed both of his hands against the floor, sending ice racing across and up the stone. Ice walls might not be as effective as Clarice's runic barriers, but he could create way more of them in a lot less time. The ice would have to do.

When a fourth explosion did not immediately follow after the third, Gray frowned. His palms still pressed against the floor, he listened in tense silence for any change—any sign that the enemy were still outside.

Come to think of it, had they actually opened the stone door yet? Gray had been focusing so intently on the magical barriers that he'd neglected to pay attention to the regular, stone one. All the enemy would have had to do was touch the portal. Surely, they had done that as soon as Clarice's wards weakened enough for them to do so.

In which case... why was it suddenly so quiet?

Gray squinted, trying to peer through the frosted ice barrier he'd created. Was that daylight on the other side or spell light? Was something moving over there?

He sensed more than saw the attack. A spear of rock crashed through the ice directly in front of him, forcing him to leap back amidst a shower of frozen shards. Gray brought his hands up to form another block of ice to trap the moving rock, but there was a blur of white and then something sank icy teeth into his right forearm. He grit his teeth against a cry of pain, helped somewhat by the numbing cold. Fortunately, the icy lion attempting to crush the bones in his arm was a small one, having had to fit through the jagged gaps in the barrier, and with a heave, Gray was able to use its own forward momentum to smash it against the corridor wall. The creature let go, its white teeth now red with the young wizard's blood, and Gray disabled it with a shower of icy blades.

He didn't wait to see what else came through the library doorway, throwing up barrier after barrier as quickly as he could and pouring all the energy he had at his disposal into the spells. He recognized that brand of Ice Maker Magic. His wizard teacher's other student had used magic just like that, and now that he'd made the connection, he recognized those rock-based spells too. If it was all of Lamia Scale's best wizards on the other side of that now open doorway, he had to buy all the time he could get before he had to fight them face to face. At any other time, the narrowness of the corridor would have given Gray an advantage since all he had to do was stall. But with a wizard on the opposing side who could manipulate stone, he wasn't that optimistic about his chances.

And, of course, he had to keep the damage to the library itself to a minimum in case it damaged the foundations of Sky Road.

.

 _This is bad, this is bad_! Lucy thought, panic rising in the back of her throat.

The tip of her pen flew through the air, tracing runes in lines of bright golden light. Technically, the pen was unnecessary. Her fingers would have worked just as well. But the fact was that she was a writer, and she found having a pen in her hands made it easier to bring the magical glyphs to life. Without it, the most Lucy had been able to manage were wisps of glowing mist that dissipated before she could pull them into something solid.

Lucy had the well entrance, meaning that the stone door was set into the ceiling rather than the wall. The enemy wizards had long since opened up the portal and sent a few of their number down into the dim hallway. Lucy was grateful that none of them were wizards she knew. That would have been incredibly awkward. Still, the coldness in the eyes of the woman she could vaguely make out through the runic barriers made her stomach churn uncomfortably. The woman threw javelins of pure, white energy at the wards, and for every other one that struck, the ground shook and another layer of shielding collapsed.

 _I'm in serious trouble_ , she thought with only two walls of runes left between then. She could clearly see the woman's features now, right down to the freckles on the tip of her nose—and then there were the faces of those wizards dropping down into the corridor behind her.

It was small consolation that the new arrivals seemed just as reluctant to damage the actual walls and floor of the library. They had the advantage of sheer numbers and could afford to wear her down.

Lucy had just begun to wonder what was taking her colleagues so long to get their own counter spell going when something in the air shifted. She felt it like a cool breeze against her skin as it swept through the many levels of the library and out into the surrounding landscape. The wizards before her hesitated mid motion, their faces registering confusion and uncertainty. If she'd had the extra energy, Lucy would have cheered, but Zeref had warned them all not to let their guards down until everything was officially over. He and the others were trying to reverse the White Key's mind manipulation magic, but that wouldn't affect any dark wizards who were there truly of their own volition. Sure enough, in the lull that ensued, Lucy heard a man shouting from outside.

"What are you waiting for? If you can't do it, then get out of the way and let me down."

With renewed determination, Lucy went back to work, rebuilding all the wards that had been broken. She counted half a dozen wizards crammed into the corridor on the other side of the glowing barriers. That was half a dozen people the dark wizards would have to move out of the way in order to reach and get past her. She'd make every second count.

.

The door to the waterfall chamber was closed, but Natsu could still hear the voices of its three occupants talking quietly from where he stood out in the corridor. It sounded like a large part of what the three wizards had to do was make the magic flow through the entire structure of Sky Road in a particular pattern, which would facilitate the artifact's activation and use. This had to be done very carefully, and the Dragon Slayer could hear them discussing the process amongst themselves and making adjustments as they went. It all sounded incredibly technical and Natsu didn't really understand most of it, but he liked listening to the soft murmur of his partner's voice. If he was interested—which he wasn't sure he was—he could always ask Zeref to explain the specifics to him later.

Honestly, Natsu had expected to be bored. For the most part, standing guard on an already heavily guarded room was not, as a rule, exciting work. He'd expected not to have the chance to fight today.

He was wrong.

Only a minute or two after he sensed the wave of power from within the locked chamber, Natsu caught a new scent in the air. He narrowed his eyes, focusing on a patch of rock further down the corridor. A second later, a human head emerged from the stone, hanging upside down from the ceiling. It turned this way and that, apparently examining the ground to make sure it was okay to climb down, and then the rest of the person pulled itself free of the rock. It was followed by a second figure, a man with short, chestnut hair that Natsu recognized from Tenrou Island.

"Are you sure this is the right place?" the man asked the first figure, which appeared to be a middle-aged woman.

"Don't ask me," she said with a sniff. "I simply got us to where you marked up the map. Why don't you look around and tell _me_ if it's the right place? Didn't Dierce describe it to you?"

Berius Senza scowled, but unfortunately, it seemed that the woman had made a valid point. He turned and finally spotted Natsu watching them from down the hall.

The Dragon Slayer met his gaze and smirked, cracking his knuckles. "Hey, it's been awhile. I heard you're one of the leaders behind this whole White Key issue. I'm glad you dropped by. We've got a fight to finish."

.

Eiji had never been part of such a major spell before, and he found the experience both exhilarating and disconcerting.

The power that fueled all magic came from emotions, Zeref had explained to them, and the wizards who had designed Sky Road had poured all their hopes and dreams of a peaceful future into their work. In other words, the essence of this artifact could be conceptualized as a wish. With this in mind, Eiji concentrated on his own hope that all the people of Fiore would return to normal. He pictured his relatives back home, his team captain and the other knights that he knew—thought of them as he had known them—and wished as hard as he could for that to be their reality again. He searched deep inside himself for the feelings of love and compassion that he harbored for the people around him, and they filled his heart with an almost painful intensity.

Images of clear lakes and rivers flickered through his head from Jellal, who had been tasked with keeping the goal of purifying the water supply steady in his mind. There were springs overflowing into streams where all sorts of fish swam, and slow currents that carried ships along on their journeys towards the sea. There were memories too—of the feel of cool water in his cupped hands and the clean, fresh taste of water after a long walk.

As the energy in the chamber stirred and flowed outward along the lines of the circle carved into the floor, it was as though Eiji's own consciousness expanded with it. He could see himself standing upon the floor of glowing white stone, see their friends still fighting where they were scattered throughout the library, and then it was like he was gazing out across the mountains from high overhead. It was all Eiji could do not to become distracted, and he found himself incredibly grateful that he wasn't the one tasked with conducting this entire operation.

Zeref stood in his own arc of the circle a few paces away, his eyes closed in concentration. Eiji couldn't read his mind—no emotions, no thoughts, not even a hint of what he was feeling. The telepath had never seen such a well guarded mind in his life, but it made sense considering who that mind belonged to. Zeref had probably had plenty of practice fighting off wizards determined to invade his thoughts and steal his memories. The fact that his mind was a blank wall to Eiji was a little disconcerting, but the Black Wizard directed the spell in a calm and methodical manner that was reinforced by more than a century of study. If Eiji had had doubts before that this boy was as old as he claimed to be, this spell had just removed them.

Among the three wizards, Zeref was the only one who showed no outwards signs of strain. Despite the fact that the toll this spell was taking on his energy reserves was even greater than that on his two companions, his features remained impassive and his hands remained steady whenever he added a rune sequence to the magic to keep it headed in the right direction.

Eiji grit his teeth and forced himself not to wobble as power flowed out of him and through the lines carved beneath his feet. He'd never lost magical energy so quickly before in his life—and compared with the other two, his burden in this casting was light. He could see sweat beginning to trickle down the sides of Jellal's face from across the circle, and the brightness in the man's eyes seemed almost feverish.

Time slowed to a crawl.

The feel of the tainted water sheeting down the chamber walls around them made Eiji nauseous, but that particular unpleasantness eased as the telepath grew more exhausted. Actually, aside from that exhaustion, all other sensations seemed to be growing fainter—moving further and further away. It was like listening to the world through an increasingly thick and fluffy wall of cotton. The colors in his vision faded and blurred, and then abruptly, Eiji's world went dark altogether.

.

Zeref sensed it the moment the telepath lost consciousness. Both Zeref and Jellal reached frantically to cover for him, and the magic faltered while they struggled to rebalance everything.

Zeref fought not to let his attention shift to the battle he knew Natsu was fighting just outside in the hallway. How long had it been since the last time he'd seen Natsu in a battle? Memories of blood and fire tried to invade his thoughts, and Zeref bit the inside of his mouth as he struggled to blank them from his mind.

That was then, and this was now. Three years ought to have been plenty of time to fix whatever had gone wrong back then. He had to believe that. The only thing he could do for Natsu at this point was have faith.

Once again steady in himself, Zeref glanced across the room at Jellal. The blue-haired councilman had proven himself to be quite a capable wizard, and Eiji had done his part well before the strain of acting as a conduit for concentrating and reorganizing the magic in the atmosphere had overwhelmed his inexperienced mind. Honestly, Zeref felt just as exhausted as the young knight looked, but they'd mostly established the foundations of the spell and, with just a few more adjustments, the magic should run its own course even without their assistance.

Right. Sure, his fingers were going numb and he felt like he was burning up with fever, but they could do this. They just had to do it before both he and Jellal lost consciousness as well.

.

His partner was in the room behind him.

The thought nagged at the back of Natsu's mind, and he had to stop himself from just going for his opponent's throat and finishing the man off for good. It would have been so _easy_. Such a simple solution to getting rid of an annoying criminal who probably didn't deserve any mercy anyway. But that wasn't how humans solved their problems these days. Actually, it wasn't how dragons solved their problems these days either.

The woman who had helped Berius phase through the stone walls of the library lay sprawled unconscious upon the floor at the other end of the corridor. Blood seeped from a gash across her temple. The wound wasn't life-threatening, but it would keep her out of the rest of the fight. That, at least, was a relief. It was harder to be careful when fighting multiple opponents.

Natsu dodged a zigzagging blast of white energy, which struck a loose chunk of stone left over from an earlier attack and set it ablaze with a sheen of crackling light. Judging from an earlier display, if that now glowing stone got struck by that same spell again, the result would be much more explosive. Natsu grinned, snatched the stone from the floor, and threw it at Berius just as the man fired another attack. Berius swore and threw himself flat on the floor a split second before spell hit stone and an explosion rocked the hallway.

"You know," Natsu said dryly, "there's no point in me not killing you if you bring the ceiling down on yourself. Of course, that would save us all a lot of trouble."

"I should have finished you and your friends off back on the island," Berius snapped, spitting out a mouthful of rock dust.

Natsu snorted. "Yeah? What a coincidence. I was just thinking the same about you and your lot. Funny how that happens, huh?

"How did you manage to free the Black Wizard from that crystal anyway?" Berius demanded. "And why is he helping you?"

The Dragon Slayer smirked. "You can thank yourself for that. You brought me exactly what I needed."

The dark wizard scowled. "That cube. You're a thief!"

"Uh, hello? Who stole it first?"

"He should be helping us, not you. Why would a dark wizard like him assist guild wizards like you?"

Any trace of amusement left Natsu's expression.

"Because, unlike you, he actually cares about other people. Don't make assumptions about him just because he's a dark wizard."

Berius scoffed. "Don't make me laugh. Everyone makes assumptions about other people, especially about dark wizards. I should know. Besides, you expect me to believe that the Black Wizard Zeref still feels compassion for the people of this kingdom after being persecuted by them for more than a hundred years?"

The image of old, dark eyes full of pain flashed through Natsu's mind, and he snarled. "Don't talk about things you don't understand."

Flames wreathed his clenched fists and glinted in fierce, green eyes.

For a second, Berius hesitated. There was something not quite right about those eyes, something almost... inhuman. But the young man was a Dragon Slayer, so it wasn't _that_ strange, right? Berius was no slouch as a wizard, and he'd survived other battles against powerful wizards with only a handful of scars that he was quite proud of. He didn't even have to win here, just break down the door and destroy the magic circle beyond. He had absolutely nothing to worry about.

Wrong.

.

Sweat plastered strands of brilliant red hair to Erza's forehead. Unconscious bodies littered the yellowing grass about the open doorway, some familiar and others not. Her attention, however, was focused on the man standing beside one of the white stone obelisks. If not for him, she would never have left her assigned post within the tunnel mouth.

"Step away from that stone," she ordered, leveling her sword at the wizard in white. She recognized him from a sketch in the documents her partner had taken from the Council archives, although his chestnut hair and beard looked more thin and ragged than it had in the picture.

Dierce inspected her with disdain. "I'm not like you modern wizards. You won't find it so easy to knock me out."

He reached out to touch the obelisk, snatched his hand back when it crackled with raw energy, then set his jaw and pressed his palm flat against the smooth, weatherworn stone. It looked like it hurt, but he didn't shy away from the pain.

"It would be a shame to destroy such a magnificent creation, but you and your companions have left me no choice."

Damn.

Erza threw herself forward with a battle cry, but her sword blade struck an invisible barrier and rebounded. White sparks sprayed through the air, and the grass about her began to smolder. She followed her first blow with a series of strikes that chipped away at the man's shields until he had to move his hands in order to renew them. The stench of burning filled her nostrils, and Erza realized with sudden anxiety that the dry grass upon this stretch of the mountain had caught fire.

And there were still people scattered upon the ground behind her—unconscious people who couldn't exactly get up and run away.

Dierce had realized the same thing, and a grim smile found its way onto his lips. "If you're trying to save those people, you aren't doing a very good job."

"Don't you care what happens to them?" Erza shot back. "I thought they were on your side now."

"Sometimes, we have to make sacrifices for the greater good."

Erza frowned, her gaze hard. "I find that the people who say such things generally care more about themselves than they do about the greater good."

Dierce ignored her. As he placed his hands back on the obelisk, Clarice came charging out of the library doorway and ran straight into the invisible barrier, her own sword inscribing an arc of silver upon the air. The blade struck the magical shield and there was a blinding flash of light. Next thing any of them knew, Clarice was on the ground next to a melted lump of metal that had once been a sword and the magical barrier was gone.

"Go!" Clarice shouted at Erza, who had frozen for a moment in shock.

Erza didn't wait for another reminder, just hefted her own enchanted blade and sprinted forward.

Clarice doubled over, nursing her stinging right hand and hissing through her gritted teeth. Something splattered on the grass, and for a moment, she thought breaking Dierce's shield had hurt her more than she'd thought. Then the first droplet was followed by another, and Clarice realized that the liquid wasn't red. It was clear, and it was falling from the sky.

It had begun to rain.

The knight inhaled sharply and cupped her left hand to capture a few of the raindrops. They glistened upon her glove, perfectly transparent and clean with no trace of the silvery taint that suffused most of the kingdom's water supply.

Ahead of her, Clarice could still hear Erza and Dierce fighting amidst the white stones, which hummed with gathered power. All the same, she couldn't stop the smile that broke out across her face.

* * *

 **TBC...**

* * *

.


	49. Home

**Disclaimer** : I do not own Fairy Tail.

 **Pairing(s)** : Natsu Dragneal x Zeref, mentions of Jellal x Erza

 **WARNINGS: violence, alternative history,** **shounan ai (boy/boy pairing); you have been warned so don't like, don't read**

* * *

 **The Will to Live**

 **By V. Shalyr**

* * *

 **14\. Home**

It was the quietest revolution in the history of revolutions—provided you weren't in the library at the time or on the surrounding mountainside. A small earthquake knocked a number of books off their shelves, but that had more to do with the destruction Natsu had caused in the underground hallways than the spell that had been performed. Even though it was still early in the afternoon, people all across the kingdom were finding it harder and harder to keep their eyelids up. They dozed off on shop counters, on park benches, and simply out in the street, scattered amongst carriages and carts that had stopped rolling. The horses stood with their heads low, dozing, and not a bird stirred upon the rooftops and trees. Even the insects had gone silent in slumber.

Natsu could hear the rain outside.

For awhile, he stood in the now scorched and cracked hallway and just listened to the sound of the rain falling. His opponents were both out cold, but he felt no sense of triumph or satisfaction. For everyone else in the kingdom, life was about to go back to normal. For his fellow guild wizards and the two Rune Knights they'd picked up along the way too, life would return to the way it had been before. They'd pick up the pieces, rebuild their towns and cities, and soon enough, it would be business as usual again. But what about for him? And for Zeref? One a dragon now living more or less permanently as a human, and the other a dark wizard who had waited three hundred years for him to come back.

This wasn't the life that he had envisioned for them way back then—the last time they had been in this library.

Zeref had told him that he was worried about how he was going to fit into this new world, and for a few long seconds listening to the rain, Natsu allowed himself to worry about that too. He allowed himself to worry about the past and whether it might still affect him, and about what the two of them might become if they weren't careful. Because Berius had been right about some things, much as Natsu hated to admit it. People did and would make assumptions, Zeref had been and probably would still be hurt by some of those beliefs, and Natsu could and would choose to defend him. Three hundred years ago, all of that had gone horribly wrong.

But Natsu being Natsu, he didn't worry about all that for very long. The only way any of them could go was forward, and this time would be different. That wasn't a hope or even a wish. That was an oath.

A promise.

.

He was in their old room, or rather, the room they had appropriated during their last stay at the library. The landscape of ships and clouds painted upon the wall beside the bed looked exactly as he remembered it, the colors still clean and vivid even after all this time.

"The people who built this place really were quite ingenious," he said when he felt Natsu enter the room.

Even the way the mattress felt under him and the smell of the blankets he was using were the same.

The bed dipped when Natsu sat down on the edge of it. "Maybe, but they still ended badly."

"Well, being great at something, even something as incredible as magic, doesn't mean that a person will be happy. It's just a common misconception."

The dragon chuckled and reached out to brush a stray lock of dark hair away from his partner's face. Zeref finally shifted his head to look at him and offered him a small smile.

"So did it work?"

"It sure did." Natsu grinned. "Eiji's been able to get in touch with people all across the kingdom, and it seems like everyone's—how should I put it?—waking up. A lot of them are really confused, but most of them think that they were just having a really weird dream."

"I suppose that's good."

"I guess." Natsu shrugged. "It's crazy how much damage people caused in just three days though. I bet we'll be getting renovation assistance requests for the next year at least."

He shook his head. "But enough about that for now. How are you feeling? All three of you just passed out as soon as the magic died down, and you're the last one to come around. It didn't make you sick or anything, did it?"

Zeref took a moment to take stock of himself, then shook his head. "No, it just took a lot out of me. It was a major casting after all."

"That's true. I thought that was probably it, but I wanted to be sure. You'd tell me if you weren't feeling well, right?"

"Of course."

"Good." Natsu glanced around the room. "Being back here is kind of nice. I think the others are having fun exploring this place. And it's peaceful here."

"It _is_ peaceful here, isn't it? Despite the history." Zeref paused then added, "Although I suppose I'm a little biased. Because... I was happy here."

"So was I," Natsu said, in case it needed to be stated. "Is that why you didn't destroy it back then? Even though you said you'd thought about it?"

Zeref looked away, just a little embarrassed. "Yes. I have discovered that I can be very sentimental."

"Nothing wrong with being sentimental," Natsu said. "Besides, it turned out to be a lucky decision."

Natsu paused then added thoughtfully, "But let's just tell everybody that you're still feeling a bit under the weather. It's a great excuse to just stay here for awhile longer."

Zeref glanced back at him, eyes bright with amusement. "I'd like that. First though, I need to do something about that white chamber so it can't be accessed anymore."

Natsu coughed. "Uh, yeah, about that..."

.

Zeref stared at the ruins of the hallway.

"Natsu..."

The dragon wizard shrugged. "At least I didn't burn any of the books. That's good, right? And it's not in danger of caving in... Probably."

Zeref transferred his gaze to the shattered remains of the door through which he could still see glimmers of glowing, white stone and then back to Natsu.

"What? It wouldn't open for me." the Dragon Slayer said defensively. "Not human, remember? I wasn't going to leave you in there unconscious, and who knew how long it would have taken for one of the others to come looking for us?"

Zeref closed his eyes and sighed. "You could have been a bit more thorough and destroyed the magic circle while you were at it."

"Do you want me to?"

The dark wizard thought about this. According to his partner, all the White Key members had been apprehended. There hadn't been that many original members, and fortunately, Dierce had been sparing about sharing what he knew with his subordinates.

"Yes," he said finally. "Yes, I think that might be best."

Natsu shrugged, and they made their way across the debris-strewn floor. Zeref watched from the doorway while his partner set about melting away the pattern carved into the white stone. It would have been easier just to smash it up, but erasing the circle this way was more final. Only a few moments and Zeref had to look away, the sheer intensity of the magic-driven flames making his eyes water. Instead, he looked at the reflections of the flames upon the water that still cascaded down the walls. Oh, the stories this beleaguered place could tell. It had seen just as much of the world as Zeref had in its way.

"Feeling nostalgic?" Natsu asked, his voice carrying over the rushing sound of the waterfalls.

"Maybe. Sort of." Zeref paused. "Not exactly. I don't think we have the luxury of nostalgia."

Natsu eradicated the last rune etched into the stone, leaving a glassy, molten patch, then straightened and walked back over to him.

"Maybe not for nostalgia, but I'd say we've earned some time to figure things out and decide what to do next, don't you?"

Zeref offered him a faint smile. "Well, I'd like to think so."

They'd helped change the kingdom and prevented the reign of a half crazy Dark Guild, and yet it felt like their lives hadn't even started yet. Somehow, they'd ended up back at the place where they had parted ways, and it really was like picking up where they had left off—except that even though the two of them were still much the same, everything around them had changed. Hopefully, it had changed for the better.

.

Jellal set the letter down on the stone table, looking uncharacteristically dazed.

"Is it bad news?" Erza asked, concerned. "It's from the Council, isn't it?"

"It is," he said slowly. "I've been appointed temporary head of the Council—just until we've wrapped up all the loose ends from this incident."

Erza took a sip of her tea before replying, "I don't know why you're surprised. You're probably the only Council member who actually knows exactly what happened."

Her partner considered this then grinned ruefully. "You're right. Things will be busy when we get back. At least we won't have to worry about keeping Zeref's name out of the official reports."

Erza nodded, the motion slow and pensive. That was good. She'd been a little worried about that herself. They had had several days now to observe and interact with the dark wizard in question, and they had no desire to cause more trouble for him or Natsu.

"Speaking of getting back," she said, "when were you thinking about leaving?"

Jellal leaned back in his chair and looked around them at the sweeping, spiral staircase and the many levels of the underground library. As long as you didn't wander out into any of the branching hallways, the place had weathered the fighting relatively unscathed. He was glad for that, although at the same time, he thought that maybe the existence of all these books should also be kept off the records.

"Well," he said, "I can do a lot of what I have to do from here, so I'm not really in a hurry. Are you? We're overdue for a vacation, and we could always go down to visit the town."

Erza smiled. "That sounds good. I'm told they have a lot of small concerts in Reed Town."

"You don't say," he said with mock surprise—he'd been there too when the shopkeeper had proudly informed them of this.

Before Erza could respond, Lucy walked out into the main library, covering a yawn as she went.

"Wow, I can't believe I slept in so late. It's kind of hard to keep track of time in here."

"No worries," Erza told her, pouring her a cup of tea as well when she sat down. "Cleaning up after a battle's tiring work, and we've made wonderful progress."

Especially in the first two days after the fighting when they'd had to work out how to transport all the unconscious wizards back to their respective guilds before they woke up—or at least to a proper town or city. Keeping the library a secret would have been much tougher if they'd left everyone where they were.

Lucy made a face at the memory. "It was crazy expensive, but I'm glad you bought that ship."

"So am I."

Jellal frowned. "Wait, you— _bought_ —it?"

This was the first he had heard of that.

"I did. It should make traveling so much easier. I could even visit you at the Council meeting hall more often."

The blue-haired wizard opened then shut his mouth, at a loss for words. Where were they going to keep a flying ship? They were still renting that townhouse in Magnolia, and he seriously doubted their landlord would look kindly upon them parking a flying ship in the sky over his property. Then again... Maybe this was a good time to start looking for a place of their own. Maybe somewhere a little farther out from the city where Erza could still reach the guild easily but where a ship wouldn't be too much of an inconvenience for their neighbors.

Huh, that was certainly worth thinking about. They could build a whole separate room for Erza's collection of clothes and souvenirs, which really took up way too much of their current closet space—not that he would ever, ever say so out loud.

"So where's everyone else?" Lucy asked, sipping gratefully at the hot tea.

Erza was the one who replied. "Depends on who you mean. Eiji, Clarice, and Gray are still out on the ship, making that last delivery. Natsu and Zeref have gone out. They didn't say where to, just that they don't plan to be back for dinner."

Lucy blinked. She'd wondered when she passed by their room earlier why it was empty.

"I thought Zeref wasn't feeling well."

Erza quirked an eyebrow. "I think they lied about that."

"Oh." The Celestial Wizard considered this for a moment then sighed. "Why'd they bother? It's not like we would have begrudged them the time. They didn't have to make up excuses."

The older woman just shrugged.

"Who knows? Maybe they just wanted some time to themselves and didn't know how else to tell us. They looked very serious when they left though, so I doubt they were simply going for a walk."

"Something serious, huh?" Lucy shifted a little uneasily in her chair, thinking of what the bakery assistant had told her. What exactly was it that had happened back then on this mountainside? Would it be okay for her to ask? Did she even really want to know?

"Lucy? Is something wrong?"

She pulled her attention back to the present and gave her friend a weak smile. "It's nothing. Just some old story I heard when we were in Reed Town."

"You mean about the massacre that happened here?"

Lucy jerked and turned wide eyes towards Jellal. "You heard that story too?"

The councilman gave a small shrug. "I believe it's a popular tale in Reed, seeing as it's usually pretty quiet around here. Something about the Black Wizard sending a dragon on a rampage to destroy his enemies, or something like that. I'd heard it before, but never thought much about it. There are thousands of stories about Zeref, and most of them aren't true. That's what happens when you're a legend."

"This one seems like it might be real though," Lucy said, looking into the clear brown depths of her tea. "I mean, you saw the mountainside and the way they reacted to it."

The three wizards went quiet. The old battle site had been a striking and chilling sight to behold, especially knowing how long ago the battle had been.

Erza broke the silence. "I think that it's safe to say that something terrible did happen here that involved the two of them, but I can't see either of them choosing to slaughter a bunch of people. Although, if they were attacked... As I understand it, it was a pretty violent time in history."

There was another long silence, and then Lucy said, "I guess... maybe it shouldn't matter. It all happened so long ago, and I'd like to think that we at least know Natsu better than that."

The other two wizards nodded their agreement, and it was unanimously decided that—unless it became important for them to know—they would leave the past where it was.

.

"Do you think this is far enough away?"

Zeref glanced around at the rocky valley, which was just one of a number of secluded valleys they'd discovered on their past wanderings.

"I believe so."

Natsu walked to the center of the valley then hesitated and glanced back at his partner. "Maybe you shouldn't be here. What if something's still wrong?"

"All the more reason I _should_ be here," Zeref said, seating himself on a boulder some distance away. "I will be fine."

Natsu frowned at him, but honestly, he didn't really want Zeref to go.

"Besides," Zeref added, "from your father's explanation, I believe my presence should actually make it better rather than worse—provided no one attacks us. If someone does attack us for some reason... Let's just hope that nobody does."

Natsu snorted. "They'd have to be monumentally suicidal. Well, here goes. We're actually not supposed to do this anymore unless our lives are in danger, since the whole point was to get people to forget about dragons, but I'd say this counts as special circumstances."

Zeref tensed when he felt the sudden spike in power and the change. He lifted an arm to shield his eyes from the flash of brilliant flames, and when he lowered it again, most of the valley was occupied by a massive, winged beast covered in dark, dark crimson scales like plate armor. For a long moment, the dragon didn't move, simply standing very still with his wings folded and his lime green eyes half closed. At least they were green now, Zeref thought. He seemed to remember seeing red in them back then.

When the stillness dragged on for too long, the wizard ventured cautiously to ask, "Natsu?"

The dragon shook himself and turned to look at him. Zeref relaxed when he saw the gleam of humor in that gaze.

"Well, obviously I can't vouch for what might happen if we got attacked or something, but, uh, we probably shouldn't test that unless we have to. Other than that, I think we're good. Of course, all this really tells us is that I can transform safely, but I'd say that's good enough for now." He unfolded then refolded his wings a few times. "I'd say these mountains are remote enough. Want to go flying? We might as well take advantage of the opportunity while we have it. Like I said, I'm not really supposed to do this anymore."

Zeref paused with a hand on the dragon's side, looking up at the silhouette of the beast's head against the overcast sky. "Are you disappointed? That you have to stay human."

Natsu didn't answer right away, and when he did, his tone was rueful. "I don't know. I haven't had time to be disappointed. I can't say I'm not going to miss this, because that would be a lie. I like being a dragon, but like I said before, being human's not so bad. I have you and my memories back, so I really don't have any complaints."

Natsu paused and cocked his head, eyeing his partner's expression. "You're thinking rather hard about something. Care to share?"

Zeref shook his head and scrambled up the dragon's side. "It's nothing. I was just thinking that your father and all of the good dragons made quite a great sacrifice so that the world could be the way it is now. I hope that humans turn out to be worth it."

The dragon made a thoughtful noise that rumbled in his chest. "I don't think Dad or any of the others think about it that way. He did always say the world was changing, and that we had to change with it. It's not just about humans. It's about dragons too."

Zeref thought about that as they took to the sky. His heart leapt with the motion, and he closed his eyes momentarily against the fierce gust of wind.

"You're even happier than I am," Natsu observed, bemused. He could feel his partner's joy radiating down their link, and it was refreshing in its light and simple clarity.

Zeref didn't try to answer. The wind was too strong, and there wasn't really a need for him to reply.

They were together, and their lives were finally starting again after having been put on hold for almost three centuries.

Sometimes, happiness really could be that simple.

.

Much more relaxed now with little left to worry them for the time being, Natsu and Zeref spent the rest of the day wandering through the mountains and catching up. When supper time came around, they ate the pastries Zeref had packed and—rather than return to the library—made camp in one of the small caves that dotted the cliffs that lined various sections of the river. Despite the recent rains and the gradual approach of winter, the evening was a relatively warm one with very little wind. Natsu had long since transformed back into a human, and they made themselves comfortable where they could see the stars but would not be visible to anyone passing upon the cliffs above or the river below. The rushing water provided a pleasant backdrop to their conversation and masked the murmur of their voices.

Not that they expected any passersby. From what they could tell, no human had passed through the area since last year's autumn rains.

"I ended up studying magical seals for awhile," Zeref said, settling back against his companion and searching out the glimmer of the moon amongst the stars in the sky. "The healer gave me some excellent books on the subject. I thought about visiting the Magic Council's library, but... having to sneak in felt like too much trouble."

"You could ask Jellal," Natsu suggested, his own gaze lingering on the wizard in his arms rather than on the stars. "Since he's on the Council, he should be able to get you in without anyone being too interested."

"I suppose I could, couldn't I?"

"I doubt he'd turn you down," Natsu added. "I'm sure he's dying to interrogate you."

"Yes, I had gotten that impression." Zeref shook his head. "Still, I suppose... it's not impossible that he will be able to help me. I know the healer woman said we rely on magic for our solutions a bit too much. I think she's right, but the bottom line is that I am a wizard. I don't know a lot of other ways to think. So after I got those books, I thought that perhaps rather than breaking my curse, I could find a way to seal up its magic instead."

"Just as long as you can still use magic to defend yourself."

"Of course."

"So what else did you do?" Natsu asked. "While you were wandering. Anything exciting?"

"I tend to avoid exciting when I'm traveling alone," his partner said dryly.

Natsu snorted. "My bad. Memorable then."

"Actually, yes. I found an underwater city that was really quite remarkable. A lot of its history was carved into the walls of its buildings, and the workmanship was really quite exquisite. I almost chose to sleep there."

"Yeah? Why'd you change your mind?"

"I saw other explorers while I was exploring."

"Ah. Not private enough then."

"No. Something similar happened when I came across this rather impressively gigantic, hollow tree."

"Let me guess. There were already people living in it."

"That's right. A whole tribe in fact."

"No kidding? Just how gigantic are we talking here?"

Zeref chuckled. "You'd be surprised. They served some extremely fragrant teas."

"You stayed for tea?" Natsu asked, surprised. "Really?"

"Well, they spotted me when I poked my head in, so it would have been strange to walk away and pretend I hadn't heard them call out to me. Strange tends to get itself remembered. Besides, I ended up stopping by a number of restaurants when... well, when I felt like I needed to."

Needed to remember that he was human. Needed even more not to forget that he was waiting for someone and wasn't actually alone anymore even if he was traveling on his own at the time. Needed to remember that he had been happy and did, in fact, still know what happiness felt like.

Zeref didn't say any of these things, but Natsu didn't need him to. He tightened his hold on the wizard and changed the subject.

"Tell me about some of these restaurants. Any good dishes? Or bad dishes, for that matter?"

"Yes ,and yes."

Zeref described some of these, and Natsu listened and thought about his partner sitting alone in various eateries and trying not to draw attention to himself while he sampled food he didn't need and watched the world go by. The thought made Natsu a little sad, although he knew there was no point. Zeref hadn't been saddened by it. If anything, the dark wizard had probably found those moments comforting. Still, Natsu resolved to replace those memories with new and better ones. After all, they had three hundred years' worth of memories they could have made to make up for.

This resolution dissolved the beginnings of restless melancholy, and Natsu focused back on the present. At some point during the narrative, he lost track of what Zeref was actually saying and became rather a lot more interested in the fact that his partner favored loose clothes that were really rather easy to undo.

Zeref's account broke off when Natsu's questing fingers found bare skin, and he said with something between exasperation and amusement, "You aren't listening to me anymore, are you?"

"Hmmm."

Natsu nipped at the rim of an ear then followed the curve of his partner's neck with lips and teeth and tongue. Zeref shuddered and shifted to make this easier for him.

Natsu paused when he reached his collarbone and murmured against the wizard's throat, "If you want me to stop, now's the time to ask."

Zeref closed his eyes and tried to ignore the erratic beating of his own heart. "Why would I want you to stop?"

"Well, you could prefer to go back and spend the night in our room in the library instead."

Zeref only chuckled at that and turned so he could wrap his arms around the dragon's neck—which was answer enough in itself.

No, Natsu thought, easing his partner back onto the pool of blankets they'd been sitting on, being human wasn't bad at all.

* * *

 **TBC...**

* * *

 **AN** : Thanks for reading, reviewing, etc.

Getting close to wrapping things up here. Just two more chapters to go...

.


	50. Magnolia City

**Disclaimer** : I do not own Fairy Tail.

 **Pairing(s)** : Natsu Dragneal x Zeref, mentions of Jellal x Erza

 **WARNINGS: violence, alternative history,** **shounan ai (boy/boy pairing); you have been warned so don't like, don't read**

* * *

 **The Will to Live**

 **By V. Shalyr**

* * *

 **15\. Magnolia City**

They left the mountains by Eden Lake early one morning during a lull in the region's autumn rains. The air smelled of wet leaves and fresh water, and with Zeref's seal back on the library, the mountainside became once more an unbroken expanse of rock, grass, and trees. The view of it falling away below them as the ship sailed towards the clouds was one they would all remember, not just for the natural beauty of it but for the surreal feeling of having fought a battle there that only a handful of people would ever know of.

Zeref peered over the railing of the _Sparrow_ towards the ground as it arrived in the skies above Magnolia City. It was early in the afternoon, and the streets teemed with people.

"I think," he said slowly, "that I need a few minutes before we go down there."

"No problem," Natsu said. "Erza was planning to head straight to the guild house, but I'll ask her to park this thing over the woods instead."

Zeref nodded and closed his eyes, focusing on clearing his mind and calming his emotions. Honestly, part of him sort of wished they could have just stayed at the library forever. But his partner's life was here in this city now, and if this was where Natsu wanted to live, Zeref would find a way to adjust.

"At least you don't have to worry about standing out," Gray said, joining him at the railing. "There are plenty of people living here that are way weirder than you."

Zeref opened his eyes and gave him an amused glance. All of Natsu's friends had been making an effort to get to know him, something Zeref both appreciated and found disconcerting.

"I wouldn't exactly call that a glowing recommendation."

The Ice Wizard shrugged, shoving his hands in his pockets and looking towards the sea of rooftops. "I didn't say weird was bad. And anyway, it's better if you don't stand out, right?"

Zeref nodded slowly, hesitated, then asked, "So do you like it here?"

"You know, I've never really thought about it. I traveled a lot with my teacher while I was in training, and I kind of just learned to make do. Magnolia's pretty typical as cities go these days."

"It looks very crowded."

"Yeah. Unfortunately, I'd say that's pretty typical these days too."

"I surmised as much."

Here, like in many of the other settlements they had flown over, there was evidence of the chaotic events of a few months' prior. Although the White Key's attempted takeover had lasted for only a few short days, it was taking months to repair the damage. It was always easier to destroy than it was to build. Still, something could be said for the way people could come together in the aftermath of such disasters, and everywhere, they saw people of all kinds helping in their own way with the reconstruction.

Somehow, the sight eased some of Zeref's trepidation at the thought that this wasn't just a place he would be passing through. It was his partner's home and would most likely be his home too from now on.

.

"I suppose the woods would be more practical than the guild house," Erza said, setting her hand on the ship's sparrow figurehead and directing it towards the tree line. "So what are your plans?"

"Hmmm." Natsu drummed his fingers on the railing. "I thought I'd show him around the city—starting with my favorite restaurant. It's a little late for lunch, so hopefully, there won't be too many people. After that... well, guess I'll see what he feels up to."

"Should we throw him a welcome party?" Erza asked, glancing sidelong at the wizard she still thought of as a Dragon Slayer. Fairy Tail liked to throw parties. Any excuse would do.

"Better not," Natsu said after a moment's thought. "Crowds tend to stress him out, and he doesn't really like a lot of attention. I'll bring him around to the guild later, and people can sort of drift by and talk to us if they want. Just—keep it casual, and don't crowd him. Could you let everyone know?"

Erza nodded.

"Oh, and thanks," Natsu added. "For trying to make things easier and not prying. I know we haven't exactly been forthcoming. It's just that... a lot happened back then. A lot of things that we want to remember because they were important to us and... a few things that we'd rather forget."

The red-haired woman shook her head. "You don't have to explain more to us than you already have. It's really none of our business. That's not to say we aren't curious, but," she shrugged, "I haven't told all of you everything that happened to me in the past either. We all have things that we want to keep to ourselves for whatever reason."

Things they wanted to keep to themselves...

Natsu looked back towards his partner, who was still inspecting the buildings passing by below the ship. Yeah, that summed it up pretty well.

"Is he..." Erza started then stopped.

"What?"

She cleared her throat. "Is he going to join the guild?"

Natsu started to reply only to realize that he didn't actually know the answer.

"I haven't asked," he admitted finally. "Guess I hadn't thought about it."

Which was stupid. He really should have asked. Well, there would be time later to find out— _after_ Zeref had had a chance to look around and see what he would be signing up for.

.

A person could have heard a pin drop in the silence that descended upon the Fairy Tail guild house.

"You brought _who_ back with you?"

Erza didn't even bother to favor the speaker with a glare.

"Zeref," she repeated, then clarified in case it wasn't clear enough, "the Black Wizard. Apparently, he's been on Tenrou Island this whole time. Sleeping."

This earned her a smattering of confused and horrified mutters, which she glowered back into silence.

"I don't want to hear any objections," she said, her voice laced with warning. "You might not remember what happened very well, but he was a great help in fixing the problem. Besides, judging from the traditions passed down by our previous guild masters and Zeref's own accounts, he is the main reason we've always protected that island."

"And you believe him?" someone asked.

"He does not strike me as a liar," she replied firmly. "Are you telling me that you don't trust my judgment."

"Uh, of course not."

"Right then." Finally, Erza allowed a smile onto her face. "Natsu said they'll drop by here later. You should probably know that they're... extremely close. They've known each other for a very long time."

Now, the mutters were definitely confused.

"A long time? A few months?"

"What do you mean by "extremely close"?"

"It's a long story," Erza said, cutting them off again. "One that I don't have the right to tell. You can ask them about it if you're curious, but first, there are a couple rules you need to follow if you don't want to die. And, in case you're entertaining the idea, I am _not_ exaggerating..."

It was probably the strangest introduction anyone had ever given, and it was definitely the most confusing—especially with all the sketchy and missing details.

Still, when Natsu did arrive with the dark-haired boy in tow, the newcomer turned out to be—at least on the surface—more or less unremarkable. He was a little pale, perhaps, and a little thin, with large, dark, and slightly anxious eyes that felt unsettlingly ancient in his young face. But other than that... Other than that, none of them would have noticed him if he hadn't been pointed out to them. Despite being one of the most powerful wizards in history, everything about his bearing screamed "don't look at me, I'm nobody important". It was a very well-practiced facade.

"Those are the job boards over there," Natsu was telling him, gesturing towards the walls papered with job requests as he led his companion over to an unoccupied table. "If anyone needs a wizard to do something for them, they can post a request there. The details are usually right on the poster—where the job is, what they want, and how much they'll pay. Of course, things often don't work out quite that exactly, but it's a close enough approximation."

"Do different guilds have different specialties?"

"Sort of," Natsu conceded. "The jobs guilds get are really more based on reputation though, even though different guilds have different wizards with a lot of different skills. You have the really prestigious guilds like Fairy Tail that get most of the toughest and strangest jobs, and then you've got the smaller guilds that are still building a name for themselves."

"And any wizard can join any guild?"

"Technically, yes, but every guild kind of has its own character. You know, its own set of beliefs. People tend to choose guilds that have beliefs similar to theirs and handle things in ways that they approve of. And of course, a wizard can get kicked out of a guild if he or she breaks the guild's rules."

The wizards seated at nearby tables lowered their voices and strained to hear without looking like they were eavesdropping. If they had been hoping to hear something unusual, however, they were disappointed. After explaining how wizard guilds operated in general, Natsu moved on to introducing different members of the guild, describing their magical specializations and passing along random facts. Now and then, one of the others would feel the dark-haired stranger's eyes on them, and they'd meet his gaze and wonder what he saw when he looked at them. Sure, he might be a dark wizard, but according to Erza, he wasn't so bad—and, well... he _was_ a pretty famous wizard, wasn't he?

Mirajane was the first one to actually approach the pair—in part simply because it was in her job description.

"Can I get you two anything to drink?" she asked, nodding at Natsu and offering the newcomer a magazine cover smile. "I'm Mirajane. I'm usually here at the guild house since I don't go on jobs much these days, so you can ask me if you have any questions."

Zeref thanked her and then asked for coffee.

After that, the rest of the guild worked up the courage one by one to follow the pale-haired model's example. It took a bit of tricky, semi-discreet maneuvering to make sure they didn't all attempt to approach the table at once, but—under Erza's watchful eye—they managed.

Satisfied that everyone had taken her warnings to heart and were too interested in the newcomer to start any fights that could, under the current circumstances, get them all accidentally killed, Erza turned to the tiny, old man who had joined her by the bar counter.

"Master Makarov, I'm glad to see that you are well."

"The same to you."

Makarov clasped his hands behind his back and looked towards Natsu and Zeref. It was Elfman's turn to greet the newcomer, but judging from the expression on Zeref's face, the large man appeared to be confusing him. Beside him, Natsu was trying very hard not to laugh.

"So he's been on Tenrou Island all these years, has he?"

"As hard as it is to believe, yes," Erza said.

"Hmmm, I wonder how this will change things."

"Guild master?"

The old man shook his head. "Never mind. Only time will tell. We need something to tell the other guilds though."

"Yes, about that, Jellal gave me a copy of his official report for the Council. It should help." Erza hesitated then asked, "About Natsu... Did you know that he wasn't human?"

"You mean about him being a dragon and not a Dragon Slayer?" The guild master coughed. "I did, actually. Not that it's really all that important in this day and age. His father came to see me when Natsu first decided to join the guild. He told me that they were starting new lives as humans, but that if Natsu ever left one day without explanation, not to ask too many questions."

Left one day without explanation, Erza thought. Probably to search for his partner once he remembered him. And to think that Natsu chose to join this guild out of all the guilds he could have picked. Life really was full of coincidences, wasn't it?

.

"So what do you think?" Natsu asked. They were on the roof of the guild house, and the late afternoon light bathed the city around them in shades of gold and orange. "It's not exactly a quiet place in the mountains, but I've liked living here. Do you think you'd be okay here?"

From his seat beside him, Zeref gave a small shrug. "As long as I'm with you, anywhere is fine."

Natsu frowned. "Are you sure? Because it's okay if you want to live somewhere else. We could go back to Eden Lake even."

"You would... do that for me?"

"I promised, didn't I? Way before I joined this guild. I want you to be happy. If you're not happy here, we'll move."

"I won't know for certain until I've tried living here for awhile. So far, it doesn't seem too bad."

Natsu nodded. "Then I'll ask you again in a year or so, okay?"

"Okay."

They fell silent for awhile, then Zeref said, "Natsu... I know these people are important to you and I should really try to fit in, but... this is probably a good time to tell you that I've decided not to join any guild. I'm... sorry if it causes problems, since that means I'll stay a dark wizard."

Natsu didn't answer right away, and Zeref snuck a look out of the corner of his eye at him, worried about his reaction.

But eventually, the dragon wizard just shook his head and said, "If that's what you want to do, then that's fine. Knowing you, you've thought a lot about this and it's not a spur of the moment decision. If you don't want to join a guild, then don't. If it does cause problems, we'll deal with them. Although... I would like to know why."

 _Why_.

Zeref let his gaze wander across the sea of rooftops while he tried to decide how best to explain his reasons. Natsu was right. It was not a spur of the moment decision.

"I don't know if you remember, but one of the wizards we ran in to back then after the shipwreck told us that she was a dark wizard because she didn't want to get caught up in the politics of guild affiliations. I didn't used to have a choice about it. The only guilds that would have given me a chance were Dark Guilds, and I don't particularly like most dark wizards myself. Now that I do have a choice, however, I find that I feel the same."

He closed his eyes for a moment before continuing, feeling the warm, afternoon breeze against his face.

"I do not wish to ally myself with any particular guild or other organization. I suppose it's a little selfish of me since part of me just doesn't want to promise my support or loyalty to anyone—well, besides you that is. But I also think that it would be in everyone's best interest in the long run."

Natsu chuckled. "Well, you _are_ the kind of person people fight over."

"I... haven't disappointed you, have I?"

The gaze his partner turned towards him was distinctly anxious now, and the dragon wizard had to grin. Maybe he _had_ felt a twinge of disappointment, but it was only a twinge and he was already over it.

"Nah, of course not. Honestly, I think I half expected it."

It wasn't like he'd really wanted Zeref to be a guild wizard. That had never been the point. He'd just liked the idea of journeying together again and going on jobs together, and somehow, he didn't think that would be a problem even if Zeref didn't join Fairy Tail. He was quite sure that his partner wanted them to do things together as much as Natsu did.

"I suppose I'll need to find a different job," Zeref said, musing. "Since I won't be able to do wizard guild work, and I'm fairly certain that doing nothing would be detrimental to my mental health. Preferably something I can do from home or on the road with you. Maybe I could write articles."

Natsu's grin grew wider, and he pulled his partner into a fierce hug. Zeref blinked and tilted his head so he could look at him.

"You're suddenly very excited. I don't really see why what I said should warrant such a reaction."

This only got him a laugh.

"It's not important. Everything's exactly the way it should be," Natsu told him, leaving an arm around him while he gestured towards a distant district with the other. "Hey, I know you can't see it from here, but our house is in that direction. We'll head there after this so you can get settled in. Although... I don't want to keep sharing a house with Dad, so I guess we'll have to start looking for someplace else."

"Is your father home?"

"No, I'd know if he was here. He's probably still out making his rounds. Some of the others are still having trouble adjusting. If he's still gone, something major must have come up. Being human can be hard sometimes, especially when you're used to living alone and solving your problems with teeth and claws—and then there are the territory issues."

"You still have territories?"

"Uh, no, not exactly, and that's part of the problem. We don't really have territories anymore, not like we used to, but that doesn't stop us from feeling territorial. Dad knows way more about humans than most dragons do, so he goes around to give advice and make sure nobody blows our cover." Natsu shrugged. "Anyway, shall we go?"

A surprise was waiting for them when they stepped through the front door of the townhouse. Natsu paused just across the threshold, frowning.

"Guess he must have come back and then left again."

Peering around him at the living room, Zeref said, "It looks like there's a note."

"Yeah."

Frowning, Natsu walked over to the table and picked up the neatly folded piece of ivory parchment. He wasn't surprised to find that it was a letter. He was surprised, however, when two keys clattered onto the tabletop. Zeref retrieved these and inspected them while Natsu scanned his father's message.

"These look similar to the one you have for this house," Zeref observed, turning the keys over in his hands. The metal was cold against his skin.

"That," Natsu said, voice half disbelieving and half amazed, "is because they're for the townhouse next door. I forgot we bought that place too when we bought this one. Dad said it was to avoid nosy neighbors, but I guess he was actually thinking ahead. He says we can move or he can. It's up to us which of the two houses we want."

"Well, that explains one thing I'd wondered about."

Natsu lowered the letter and raised his eyebrows. "Yeah? What's that?"

The expression on Zeref's face was definitely amusement. "Why he insisted on making the time jump with all that gold. It... surprised me. Knowing he was your father, I didn't think he'd be the type to indulge in luxuries or extravagant living. It didn't occur to me that he planned to buy land. Buying land in populated human cities can certainly be very expensive."

Natsu snorted. Still... That had been a thoughtful and supportive thing to do, and it told him that his father really, truly had believed that everything would work out for them.

Natsu pocketed the letter and asked, "Want to go look at it now? Even though it shares a wall with this place and was built at the same time, the floor plan's really different. The two houses share a garden, so we can go around the back."

Zeref surveyed the numerous maps tacked upon the walls as he followed his partner through the living room towards the garden door. There were detailed maps of every part of the kingdom as well as some neighboring countries, all the landmarks and settlements carefully labeled. Some of these places had an additional star next to their names.

"I'm guessing those don't indicate where the remaining dragons live," he said. That would be far too indiscreet.

"Nope." Natsu threw a grin back over his shoulder before unlocking the garden door. "They're for restaurants that Dad or I like. We both travel a lot for work, and when either of us find a place with good food, we mark it down so we don't forget."

Zeref shook his head and followed his partner out into the overgrown yard. How very... suitable.

"Hey, maybe you could write restaurant reviews. Or travel books. What do you think?"

If anyone had chanced to pass by on the street at that moment, he would have heard a boy laughing. It was a happy sound and a lighthearted one, and that passerby might have been surprised to learn how rare an occurrence that was. Although... perhaps not quite so rare anymore.

* * *

 **TBC...**

* * *

 **AN** : Okay, so since I mentioned it before, this is just a note to let you all know that I've posted the first chapter of a Fairy Tail/My Hero Academia fusion. I'm posting it under "crossovers" because I will be using a lot of Hero Academia characters. Not sure how far I'll get in it. It's always a little iffy, starting to write on a new world. It's just that I couldn't get the idea out of my head.

 **Title** **: The Things We Dream**

Fairy Tail/My Hero Academia

 **Summary** : In the wake of Hero Killer Stain's arrest, a vicious new villain has rapidly gained notoriety for targeting heroes in training. After two deaths, a taunting note, and the disappearance of several students, the government sends an eccentric duo to work with U.A.'s faculty and students to handle this new threat. The story they bring with them offers a very different perspective on the struggle to live a normal life in this superhuman society. Slash, NatsuxZeref

I had to trim this summary a little for the actual post, but anyway...

.


	51. Epilogue

**Disclaimer** : I do not own Fairy Tail.

 **Pairing(s)** : Natsu Dragneal x Zeref, mentions of Jellal x Erza

 **WARNINGS: violence, alternative history,** **shounan ai (boy/boy pairing); you have been warned so don't like, don't read**

* * *

 **The Will to Live**

 **By V. Shalyr**

* * *

 **16\. Epilogue**

"What's that?"

Zeref lowered the letter and glanced up at Natsu, who was just shutting the front door with a bag of takeout in his hands.

Lunch smelled like it was going to be very good.

"It's from Jellal. It's going to be some time before he can arrange for me to visit the Council's own library, but he's given me a list of other libraries he believes may have useful books on curses and seals."

"Yeah? A whole list, huh?"

Zeref nodded. "There are a surprisingly large number of them in fact. He also provided me with a letter of reference saying that I'm doing some research on his behalf."

Which meant that he shouldn't have too much trouble getting permission to peruse the various archives.

Natsu began to pull boxes out of the bag while Zeref rose to retrieve some plates and cutlery from the cupboards. It wasn't the first time they had eaten at home over this past week, but today, they were eating at home because yesterday's events had exhausted Zeref's tolerance for trying to be sociable.

Despite what Natsu had said, the guild members had decided to throw a party anyway—not a _welcome_ party necessarily, but it was always good to show a newcomer your city's best side. Besides, the bulk of the renovation work around the city had just been completed, and that was cause enough for a citywide celebration. Magnolia was expecting snow soon, and that would make construction difficult.

Honestly, walking through the noisy, crowded festivities had been slightly horrifying to Zeref, but the cheerful atmosphere had been nice and the fireworks just before midnight... He'd really liked the fireworks.

"I'm glad you two are getting along," Natsu said. "Jellal should be a lot of help. Erza said he used to do spell design and development work."

Zeref returned to the table and peered into the array of open boxes. "He told me the same. Natsu, are you sure the restaurant didn't make a mistake? These all look the same."

"That's 'cause this place fries everything in their own special batter," Natsu explained. "Trust me, it's good. The white boxes are the salty stuff. Red boxes are dessert."

The dragon paused, expression growing thoughtful. "There's this small town restaurant west of here that specializes in pork cutlet. A bunch of people at the guild have gone there while on jobs, and they all swear it's the best fried pork they've ever had. We should go sometime."

"Our restaurant list is growing rather long," Zeref said, selecting one of the round, golden brown morsels from a white box.

"It is, isn't it?"

For a few long minutes, they ate in contemplative silence.

Then Natsu said, "We can leave today."

Zeref paused with a piece of what he had identified as fried pumpkin halfway to his mouth. "Pardon?"

"Like you said, it's a long list. We might as well start making a dent in it. I finished the construction stuff I was helping with yesterday, and there tend to be fewer job requests during the winter. Then there are the libraries and archives you want to visit. We can use those to plan our route."

"Winter's not the best time to be on the roads," Zeref pointed out.

Natsu was undeterred. "We'll be fine. It's not like you didn't used to wander during the winter too, right? And it's not like we have to travel fast. Think of it as a vacation, and anyway, it'll be good for you to see what the kingdom looks like these days."

"That's true." Zeref thought for a moment longer then shrugged. "Why not? We can go purchase supplies after we eat. Do you have to tell anyone before we go?"

And they could pick up some souvenirs while they were away to hang on the walls of their new home. It was time that Zeref stopped drifting through life like a ghost. Maybe they could even buy a camera.

.

The chatter that filled the main room of the guild house died down momentarily when the front doors were flung open. When they saw Natsu, their gazes automatically moved past him to check for a certain dark wizard. Zeref wasn't following him today, however, and the Dragon Slayer strode through the main room without pausing to speak to anyone and disappeared up the stairs.

"I hope having that festival yesterday wasn't a bad idea," Lucy said, looking after him. "Zeref did look kind of stressed when I saw them in line at the rice dumpling stand. They left without buying anything."

Her friend Levy coughed. "I don't think you have to worry about that. I'm pretty sure he got over it."

Lucy frowned. "What do you mean by that?"

The taller woman resolutely kept her bespectacled gaze fixed on Lucy's latest short story manuscript, which she had been reading over for her. Although even with the paper hiding half her face, Lucy glimpsed the blush making its way across her cheeks.

"Well," Levy said when her friend just continued to look at her, "Some of us may have seen them kissing on the roof during the fireworks."

Lucy considered this. "Oh."

"Erza did tell us they were close," the Rune Wizard continued, the embarrassment on her face leaking into her voice. "But she wasn't very specific."

Lucy stared at her for another long second and then started to giggle. She leaned on the table, her blond hair falling forward over her face.

"I don't see what's so funny," her friend said, finally lowering the manuscript pages and frowning at her.

"I'm sorry, it's just—I can just imagine everyone—what a way for you to find out. We were really surprised when Natsu told us too, but I've gotten so used to it that it didn't even cross my mind that the rest of you would be surprised. I've never seen them kiss though. I think they're really private about those things, but they're not shy about cuddling when there are other people around."

"We were surprised all right," Levy said ruefully. "Still, I suppose it's not nearly as surprising as learning that Zeref is still alive and will now be living in Magnolia."

Gradually, Lucy's mirth subsided and she sighed. "No, I suppose it's not. That reminds me..."

Lucy pulled her bag onto her lap and rummaged through its contents, producing a large, yellow envelope.

Levy eyed it curiously. "What's that?"

"You know how Zeref doesn't want to join a wizard guild?" When her friend nodded, Lucy continued. "Well, apparently, he was thinking about becoming a writer. One of the magazines I write for is looking for travel articles, so I asked the editor about it. He agreed to see some writing samples, and these are the guidelines."

"Oh, I see."

Just then, Natsu appeared back down the stairs. Lucy waved the envelope and called him over to their table.

"Here," she said, holding it out to him. "I'm sure Zeref will know what to do with it. There isn't a deadline exactly, though I think the goal is to hire someone by the time summer comes around. There's an address too, if you need to send the writing samples in."

"Thanks." Natsu tucked the envelope under his arm then added, "Zeref and I are actually going out for awhile, so the timing's great. We'll travel, and he can write about it."

"Remember to tell him to try and include things other people might be interested in—like a tour guide might. I'm pretty sure that's what the editor's really hoping for."

"I'll tell him."

"So where are you guys going?" Levy asked. "It's unusual to travel this close to winter."

"Just away for awhile." Natsu took a step towards the door then paused, his expression thoughtful, and added—almost as an afterthought, "Call it our honeymoon. We never got to have one. We'll be back in a month or two. Maybe more. Depends on how long it takes to get to all the restaurants and libraries on our list."

He disappeared down the front steps and the door swung shut, leaving the guild hall in startled silence.

After several long seconds, someone said, "Did I hear...?"

"Yup."

"...You know, sometimes, I think they're a little weird."

"Only sometimes?"

.

"That is a very nice cloak," the tailor said, spreading the heavy fabric out across her worktable. "You've taken very good care of it. We'll just fix some of the seams, and I think we can get you an additional inner layer for when the snow gets heavy. I'm sure I have something in stock that should match up with this."

"That would be good. Thank you."

"It's no trouble." The woman smiled and gestured towards the rest of her shop. "I'll get to work on this right away. It won't take long. In the meantime, all the winter wear is against the back wall."

Zeref thanked her again and moved to look through the various cloaks, coats, and scarves. The shop offered a number of different travel bags too, some of them with a bedroll attached and all of them with plenty of pockets. When he left the tailor's an hour later, he looked like a proper traveler ready to face the cold of the upcoming season.

Natsu had returned from the guild by the time Zeref made it home. They packed the food and cookware they'd piled on the kitchen table then went through the rooms, locking all the windows and turning off the lights. Honestly, the house was rather empty. They'd chosen to move out of the other one, and they hadn't had time to furnish the place beyond the absolute basics yet. That was okay though. They'd have time for that when they got back.

"I meant to ask you," Natsu said, locking the front door behind them and leading the way through the streets towards the city boundaries, "did you want to change your name?"

Zeref hadn't given the subject much thought since waking up. It was an important question though, all considered.

A few people glanced their way as they passed, and some of them called out well wishes for their trip. Their packs made it obvious that they were starting out on a journey.

Zeref didn't speak until the buildings gave way to trees and the sounds of the city faded to be replaced by the rustle of the breeze and the chirping of birds.

"No," he said, "I think... that I'll keep the name. We'll need to come up with a story as to why my parents would have named me after a dark wizard from history, but... I think it's been long enough since the knights stopped searching for me. We can't do anything about the rumors—especially among the Dark Guilds—but there have been so many false rumors that I doubt most people put much value in them. Besides, I think most people would expect the Black Wizard to use a fake name, and associating with a member of the Magic Council can't hurt either. Not to mention most people probably won't believe that I'm more than four hundred years old. I'd like this name to mean something different."

Natsu thought this over. "In other words, you're saying that you're ready to try starting over."

"In other words, yes."

"Sounds good to me." Natsu slung an arm around his partner and grinned. "This isn't exactly the life I wanted us to live back then, but I promise it's going to be a good one anyway."

Zeref didn't reply with words, but he turned his head to offer him a smile, and Natsu could tell from the gleam in the wizard's dark eyes that Zeref believed him.

* * *

 **END**

* * *

 **AN:** Whew, and that's it. I know there are still some loose ends. They don't really know if Natsu's worked out his issues, and Zeref still has his curse. But this seems like a good place to end this particular story.

Overall, I'm pretty happy with the way this turned out. I guess that makes this my longest complete fic, at least until I finish Firelight and Shadows.

Anyway,I hope you enjoyed reading it:)

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